IT OR THE PEOPLE ' FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OSBORN LIBRARY OF VEFITEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY PRESENTED APRIL 16T" 1908 //" 7 ,J J / A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS IN AFRICA > - -"J ' ''^^ A NARROW ESCAPE; MASHUNA LAND, SEPTEMBER 17, 1S7S. Frc?itisp!ccc. o ^ , r » /- i^ee page -^b^. IW.KY A Hunter's Wanderings in Afri rica ISO, BEING A NARRATIVE OF NINE YEARS SPENT AMONGST THE GAME OF THE FAR INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA CONT.^INING ACCOUNTS OF EXPLORATIONS BEVOND THE ZAMBESI, ON THE RIVER CHOBE, AND IN THE MATABELE AND MASHUNA COUNTRIES, WITH FULL NOTES UPON THE NATURAL HISTORY AND PRESENT DISTRIBUTION OF ALL THE LARGE MAMMALIA h( ^^i.^J' "tip/,. BY FREDERICK COURTENEY SELOUS IVitli Se-1'enteen Full -Page Jlliistrations By J. Smif, E. liliympey, and Miss A. B. Selous Eonlion MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1907 ^y// rights resell (d Firsl Edition, Demy Si^o, t88i. Second Edition, Demy i-vo, 1 890. Third Edition, Demy Si^o, 1893. Fourth Edition, Demy 8z'o, 1896. Transferred to Adacmillan & Co., Aiiguit 1898. Fifth Edition, Extra Croivn %'vo, 1 907, i^^4^' ©0 iKii Jricntis THE ELEPHANT-HUNTERS, MISSIONARIES, AND TRADERS IN THE FAR INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA FROM WHOM 1 HAVE EVER MET WITH THE TRUEST KINDNESS AND THE MOST GENEROUS HOSPITALITY THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED Br THE AUTHOR PREFACE Since Baldwin's book upon African hunting appeared, now nearly twenty years ago, no work has been published which can be considered in any way as a guide for men who are about to visit the interior of South Africa in search of sport, and would wish to know the state of the country at the present day from a sportsman's point ot view. This want I hope that the present volume may to some extent supply, for as during eight years I have led the life of a professional elephant-hunter, my pages are naturally chiefly devoted to the fenc naturcf^ amongst which I have been constantly living. Some of my conclusions with regard to lions, rhino- ceroses, or other animal, may differ from those arrived at by other men equally competent to give an opinion ; but, at all events, they are the result of a long personal experience of the beasts themselves, and have not been influenced in any way by the often unreliable stories of " old hunters." The seven plates of antelopes' heads form a vii viii A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS complete series, representing every species, from the smallest to the largest, that is to be met with north of the Limpopo river up to 12° south latitude. They have all of them been most carefully drawn by Mr. J. Smit, to whom my best thanks are due, from actual specimens now in my possession, which have been mounted by the well-known taxidermist Mr. Rowland Ward of Piccadilly, and are therefore faithful representations as regards markings and length of horn of the animals themselves. At the end of the book I have appended some game lists kept during my last two hunting expedi- tions. This has not been done out of any wish to show what a large bag I have made ; but as it has been copied from my game book, kept carefully from day to day, I think it will give any one intending to visit the interior of South Africa a better idea ot the sort of sport and the different species of game he is likely to fall in with at the present day in different parts of the country, than any detailed description. Sometimes it certainly represents all the game I was able to shoot, with an immense amount ot hard work ; at others it does not record one-fourth part of what I mig-ht have killed had 1 wished to make a bag. Some people may consider it a dreadful record of slaughter, but it must be remembered by these, that I was often accompanied by a crowd ot hungry savages, exclusive of the men in my employ, all of PREFACE ix whom were entirely dependent upon me tor their daily food, whilst in some of my expeditions my rifle supplied me almost entirely with the means of obtaining from the natives corn, guides, porters, etc., which better-equipped parties would have paid tor with calico, beads, or other merchandise. In some of my journeys I have penetrated into regions hitherto unvisited by Europeans, and in such cases have always macie rough sketch-maps, two of which have been published by the Royal Geographical Society. As these expeditions were, however, under- taken in search of elephants and not with any scientific objects, 1 do not claim any credit to myself for their results. Some portions of the present volume have already been printed from time to time in the columns ot The Field newspaper. As the articles in question recounted some of the most interesting of my hunt- ing adventures experienced some years ago when elephants were still plentiful, 1 make no apology tor again reproducing them. My thanks are also due to my sister. Miss A. B. Selous, for the time, trouble, and patience expended by her upon the ten illustra- tions representing the hunting-scenes which embellish my pages, all of which were drawn under my own supervision, and from my oral descriptions ; and also to Mr. Edward Whymper for the careful and pains- taking way in which he has diminished these draw- X A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ings and reproduced them upon the wood. In con- clusion, I have only to add that in the following pages I have done my best to express myselt in plain, intelligible English ; and it I have not suc- ceeded in this respect as well as I could wish, I trust that my shortcomings will be leniently judged when it is remembered that the last nine years ot my life have been passed amongst savages, during which time I have not undergone the best training for a literary effort. THE AUTHOR. Barrymore House, Wargrave-on-Thamks, "June 1 88 1. CONTENTS PART I CHAPTER 1 Land at Alsjoa Bay — Diamond Fields — Trading Trip through Griqua- land — The Chief Manchuran — Batlapin Village— ^-Griqiia Town — Bushman's Lair — Klas Lucas, the Koranna Chief — Bechuanas at Lange Berg — Appearance of Country — Return to Diamond Fields — Preparations for Second Expedition . . Pages i-io CHAPTER JI Kuruinan — Seventy-eight Elephants shot — Bechuana Chief, Montsua — Secheli — Bamangwato — Scenery — Hard-working Missionaries — First Giraffe -hunt — Lost in the Veldt — Great Sufferings — Cold — Hunger — Thirst — Ninety Hours' Fast — Loss of " Salted " Horse — Heartlessness of Natives — The Lost found — First Lion seen — Tati Gold Fields — Mashuna Diggings . . • . 11-32 CHAPTER HI Massacre of a Tribe — Native Dress — Remarkable Scenery — Lobengula, King of the Matabele — Uniziligazi — Slaughter of the " Headmen " — Battle of Zwang Indaba — Lions — Piet Jacobs — Terrible Adven- ture with a Lion — Mashunas — Elands — Start Hunting with "Cigar," the Hottentot 33-47 xi xii A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS CHAPTER IV Eland shot — My First Elephant — "Cigar's" Skill in hunting Elephants — Abundance of Game — Successful Bags — Drought — Rain — Hardship — Maiming Elephants — Stabbing from Trees — A Murder and Execution — " Bill" and the Crocodile . . Pages 48-63 CHAPTER V "Inxwala" Dance — Matabele War Dress — Black Rhinoceros — Bull Elephants — Linquasi Valley — Permanent Encampment — Hur ting in the " Fly " — Profitable Shooting — Sketch of Country — Depopu- lation by Zulus — Varieties of Fauna — Sable Antelope — A " Skerm" — Extracts from Journal — A Grand Elephant-hunt — Narrow Escape of a Kafir ........ 64-86 CHAPTER VI Journal continued — A Rest— Fresh Honey — Start after Elephants — Two Bulls shot — Tramp for Water — A Supperless Night — A Fort- night's Hunting — Burying the Ivory — Rejoin Wood — Black Rhinoceros — A Bees' Nest — White Rhinoceros — Six Bull Elephants shot — A Kafir killed — Disastrous Elephant-hunt — Narrow Escape — Accident — Return to Waggons ..... 87-122 CHAPTER VII Bad Weather — Slow Travelling — Mr. and Lieut. Garden — Daka — Leave the Waggons — Elephant-hunt ; first of Season — A Bath of Blood — First Glimpse of Falls — Difficult Country — Magnificent Panorama — Grandeur of Victoria Falls of Zambesi — Herd of Buffalo — Banks of Zambesi — Double Lunar Rainbow — Pitfalls for Game i 23-1 39 CHAPTER VIII Koodoo — Inipala — Tenacity of Life — Waterbuck — A new Servant — The "Chobe" River — Pookoo Antelopes— Buffaloes — A wounded Cow — Elephant-shooting — Lions at Night — Abundance of Buffalo -^The "Pookoo Flats" — Mosquitoes and Tsetse Flies . 140-164 CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER IX Hippopotami — Lechwe Antelopes — Difficult Shooting — Elephants on the "Chobe"— A Plucky little CaU— A Canoe Ride— Makubas and their Island — Return to " Pookoo Flats" — 400 lbs. of Ivory Pages 165-178 CHAPTER X Pookoo Antelope — Shooting Lechwe— Up the Chobe — Strange Experi- ence with Elephant — Canoe Trip through Marsh Lands of Chobe — Buffalo — Island Inhabitants — Palm Wine- Situtunga Antelopes — " Umbaracarungwe " Island — Dense Thorn-bush . 179-203 CHAPTER XI Adventure with Elephants — Return to Mainland — Two Elephant-hunts — Ten killed — Schinderhutte ; Tragic End — Two Buffalo Bulls — Encounter with a Lioness — Return to Tati, and England 204-231 PART II CHAPTER XII Land at Algoa Bay, 1876 — The Giraffe and its Habits— Giraffe-hunts — Amandebele Marauders — Adventure with Lion — Narrow Escape — Westbeech the Trader — Chase after Gemsbuck — Horse killed by Lions ; wound the Male ; found dead by Bushmen soon after 235-264 CHAPTER XIII The South African Lion— Variation of Type — Habitats — Appearance Colour — Habits — Average Size — Unclean Feeders — Dangerous Antagonists — A sad Story — Lioness attacks Camp by night — Horse wounded — Ruthven shot — Lioness killed — Shoot magnificent Lion and two Lionesses ....... 2 65-2 8 7 xvi A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS CHAPTER XXI Hippopotamus Paths — Rliinoceros — Bad Rifle — Waterbucks — Difficult Country — Sable Antelope — Native Villages — Bargaining — Lo Magondi — Native Weaving — Trip with Lo Magondi — The Lory — Pool of Hippos — Sea-Cow shooting — Matabele Superstition — Beaconsfield Cataracts — Shooting Buffalo — Lion at night Pages 447-468 CHAPTER XXJI Ancient track of Hippopotami — Starving Hippos to death — Elephant- hunt — Mountainous Country — Buffaloes — Rhinoceros — PacUiling a dead Hippo — Nasty Accident — Lionesses . . . 469-492 List of Game shot during the Year 1879 .... 493 List of Game shot during the Year 1880 .... 495 List of Game shot between the ist of January 1877 and the 31st of December 1880 ...... 497 Index 499 ILLUSTRATIONS A Narrow Escape Map . Eland Bull Gemsbuck . Eland Bull Koodoo Bull Koodoo Bull Horns of Situtukga SiTUTUNGA Antelope Sable Antelope . Sable Antelope . Sable Antelope . Roan Antelope . Roan Antelope . Roan Antelope . Duiker Antelope Duiker Antelope Oribi Antelope . Klipspringer Antelope Duiker Antelope Steinbuck . Steinbuck . Steinbuck . Grysbuck . . Fro7itispkce Face page i Plate I. 1 lo 'i-i 1 , lO 1'i 1 1 10 Plate 11. 32 11 "i 32 Antelopi 11 1 32 91 1 32 Plate HI. 46 11 1 46 11 1 46 11 1 46 11 1 46 11 1 46 Plate ir. 86 11 1 86 11 1 86 E 11 1 86 11 1 86 11 1 86 11 1 86 1' 1 86 11 1 86 XVII xviii A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS Plate V . Face page •,5 Plate II. Waterbuck PooKoo Antelope PooKOo Antelope Reedbuck . Reedbuck . Lechwe Antelope Lechwe Antelope Impala Antelope Impala Antelope Springbuck Springbuck Blesbuck Horns of Grey Rhebuck Horns of Red Rhebuck Bushbuck . Spotied Bushbuck Blue Wildebeest Old 4.-B0RE Dutch Elephant G Single io-Bore Riflk TsEssEBE Antelope Tsessebe Antelope Lichtenstein's Hartebeest Lichtenstein's Hartebeest Hartebeest Hartebeest . . Knocked up. Waiting for the Cool of Night TO GET back to THE WaTER Close Quarters ....... Encounter with Lions . . . . . Following a Wounded Buffalo in Thick Bush Adventure with a Buffalo . . . . BUSHBUCKS FROiM THE Rl\ER ChOBE Horns of Buffalo Bull . . . . . UN P/ate I'll. 5» 55 Page Faee page 55 55 Page 122 122 122 I 22 122 I 22 I 22 164. 16+ 164. 164 164 .6+ 164 164 164 164 164 178 202 202 202 202 202 202 222 253 283 290 294 299 300 ILLUSTRATIONS xix Horns of Buffalo Cow ..... P'lgf 300 Sable Antelope pursued by Wild Dog . Face page 384 Skull and Horns of the Konze Antelope . „ 395 An Unexpected Meeting with Two Lions ,, 417 Horns of White Rhinoceros .... P^^g^ 468 Hippopotami at Home .... Face page 485 CHAPTER I Land at Algoa Bay — Diamond Fields — Trading; trip throu^Mi Griqua- land — The ChiefManchuran — Batlapin Village — Griqua Town — Bushman's Lair — Klas Lucas, the Koranna Chief — Bechuanas at Laneje Berg — Appearance of Country — Return to Diamond Fields — Preparations for Second Expedition. On the 4th of September 1871, I set foot for the first time upon the sandy shores of Algoa Bay, with _^400 in my pocket, and the weight of only nineteen years upon my shoulders. Having carefully read all the works that had been written on sport and travel in South Africa, I had long ago determined to make my way to the interior of that country as soon as ever circumstances would enable me to do so ; for the free-and-easy gipsy sort of life described by Gordon Gumming, Baldwin, and other authors, had quite captivated my imagination, and done much to determine me to adopt the life of ever-varying scenes and constant excitement, which I have never since regretted, and for which an inborn love of all branches of Natural History, and that desire so common amongst our countrymen of penetrating to regions where no one else has been, in some degree fitted me. As I knew no one in Port Elizabeth who might have given me advice, 1 determined first of all to 2 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. make my way to the Diamond Fields, from which place I rightly judged it would be easier to make a final start for the interior than from the coast. Accordingly, as I had too much baggage to allow me to travel by Cobb and Co.'s coach, which was then running, I looked out for a waggon bound for the New El Dorado, which there was iittle difficulty in finding, and after striking a bargain with a young transport rider ^ named Reuben Thomas, who under- took to convey me and my 300 lbs. of baggage to the Diamond Fields for the sum of _^8, I finally left Port Elizabeth two days later on, September 6th. The journey between the coast and the Diamond Fields is so uninteresting that I will not weary my readers with any account of it, as I wish to devote my pages to narratives of my experiences in those parts of the far interior at present but very imper- fectly or not at all known to the general public. After a very slow journey of nearly two months, we at last, early on the morning of the 28th of October, reached our destination. As we had only travelled at night, allowing the bullocks to rest during the heat of the day, I had been able to do a good deal of shooting in a small way, and in return for an immense amount of hard walking, had managed to bag one bushbuck ram, one duiker, one springbuck, one klipspringer, and eight grey and red rhebucks, all of which I had carried on my own shoulders to the waggons. On the evening of the day on which I reached the Diamond Fields, a great misfortune befell me, for a small double breech-loading rifle by Reilly, with which I had been shooting along the road, was stolen 1 In the Cape Colony, carriers wlio convey g^oods from one part of tlie country to another are called "transport riders." I MR. CROSSLEY 3 from the waggon, and no endeavours to trace it were of any avail. My armoury was now reduced to a double ten muzzle-loading rifle by Vaughan, a very interior weapon, as it threw its bullets across one another, and a little double gun that shot well with both shot and bullet. On the market next morning I bought a horse for £S, and rode over to Pniel. Here 1 met a fellow- passenger, Mr. Arthur Laing, who had left the ship at Cape Town and gone up to the Fields direct by passenger cart. He told me that he was tired of digging, and was thinking of making a trading trip through Griqualand, and down the Orange river, taking with him as guide and interpreter a man named Crossley, who knew the country and the people, and who, indeed, had been private secretary to Aciam Kok, the Griqua chief, and once held a very good position, from which a passionate devotion to the flowing bowl had dragged him down step by step, till he now did not own so much as the shoes he stood in. He was, however, in his sober moments, which, when within ten miles of a canteen, were both short and infrequent, an intelligent and well-informed man. My friend was very anxious that I should join him, aiid as I had found that the commencement of winter, viz. April or May, was the best season to start for the far interior, I soon made up my mind to do so, thinking the trip would just about occupy the intervening time. Our arrangements were soon made, anci on October 31st we loaded up a small wooden -axled waggon which we had bought for _^8o, and managed to make a start that same evening. We at first followed the course of the Vaal river, and on the evening of November 2nd, were out- 4 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS cu. spanned upon its banks, when a Kafir chief rode up, accompanied by about twenty followers. He proved to be Manchuran, one of the most influential chiefs among the Batlapins; but for all this, after we had given him and his brother a good dinner, he was not above begging for sugar, tea, coffee, or anything else he could think of. A Kafir will seldom miss a thing for want of asking for it. Early on the next morning we reached a large Batlapin village, where we found the houses very clean, nice, and comfortable. They are divided into two compartments, whilst outside there is a sort of verandah, and round the front of the house a yard very neatly enclosed, and plastered with cow-dung. Inside, these houses are large and roomy, being at least eight feet high, and most of them having a recess in the wall with shelves for pots, etc. At this village we tried our 'prentice hands at trading. It was very tedious work, as the natives wanted to look at everything, and talked a great deal about every article they inspected before buying anything. Greatly to my surprise, they paid for what they bought in hard cash. The following day we left the banks of the Vaal river, and trekked through a country covered with wait-a-bit thorn-bushes towards Campbell's-dorp, an old mission station ; on the way I saw two hartebeests, but could not get a shot at them. Campbell's-dorp had evidently known better days, for there were many deserted gardens and ruined cottages about the place ; still, although most of the people seemed a lazy, poverty-stricken lot, some of the better class of Griquas were living in houses quite as comfortable as those of the lower class of Transvaal Boers. On November 9th we trekked, and reached Griqua I A WONDERFUL PUDDING 5 Town the following day. This place, like Campbell's- dorp, must have seen better days, but was now almost deserted. During the subsequent five weeks we trekked about from one Griqua farm to another all over the country, buying sheep, goats, oxen, and ostrich feathers, but finding no game except a few springbucks and steinbucks. On the 2 1 St of December we found ourselves on the banks of the Orange river, at a place called Sea- cow's-bath, where dwelt a very decent old Kafir, Hendrick Kieviet by name. The next day I started early to look for rhebuck amongst the hills bordering the river, but never saw a living thing. One might almost as well look for game in Hyde Park as in Griqualand. The weather was now intensely hot ; every day the thermometer rose to over 100' in the shade ; and at about midnight, with the moon shining gloriously, it still marked 91°. Christmas Day. — Made a wonderful pudding ol meal and eggs, flavoured with chocolate ; we also made a sauce of meal, milk, honey, and chocolate. Both pudding and sauce turned out a glorious success, and, considering the paucity of materials at our dis- posal, I think we had reason to be proud of it. We invited old Hendrick to dinner, and he was enchanted with the pudding, declaring he had never tasted anything like it, and, judging from the amount he stowed away, evidently thinking he never would again. January ist found us still trekking westwards along the northern bank of the Orange river. This day we met two Griqua waggons returning from Damaraland, where they had been on an embassy from Waterboer to the Damara king, in reference to allowing the Griquas to settle in his country. 6 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. They had, however, been unsuccessful in their negotiations. January \th. — Whilst poking about along the river, looking for guinea-fowls, I came upon a Bush- man's lair amongst the trees by the water's edge. A io."^ boughs woven together and forming a sort of canopy was all they had in the way of a habitation ; the only weapons they possessed were rude-looking bows and neatly-made poisoned arrows, some about two and a half feet in length, fashioned from reeds, whilst others were only a foot long. Their language seemed even fuller of clicks and clucks than the Koranna, and altogether to a casual observer they appeared to be very few steps removed from the brute creation. The following day three more Bushmen came to the waggon begging for tobacco ; they were taller and better-looking than those I had first seen. January Gth. — Reached Klas Lucas's town, a Koranna chief living (in the dry season) at a ford of the Orange river called Olivenhout's drift. While there a hut was struck by lightning, and of the seven Korannas within, two were killed. Here we turned back, and travelling on the same road by which we had come, reached Keis again on the 19th of the month. From Keis we trekked north to Lange Berg for two days through very heavy sand, and without a drop of water till we reached the farm of Anthony Potgieter, a coloured man from the Cape Colony. Our cattle, sheep, and goats were terribly thirsty, and it was a sight to see how they all rushed into the water. Old Anthony Potgieter turned out to be a very good old fellow, sending us down lots of milk and some bread, which latter was a great treat, for. I HARTEBEESTS SEEN 7 having been unable to obtain cither corn or maize from the wretched Korannas, we had tasted nothing but mutton for twenty-three days. I saw here a herd of about thirty hartebeests, but as they were on the side of a hill, and the ground beneath them was perfectly open, I could not manage to get a shot at them. January I'jth. — Left Anthony Potgieter's hospit- able hut with regret, and trekked northwards amongst the Lange Berg Kafirs, reaching Michonya's kraal in the evening. This old fellow was stingy, even for a Bechuana, which is saying a good deal. These people, however, seemed industrious, as at every kraal they had many acres of ground under cultiva- tion, and they make a great many karosses, which they sew with great neatness. They seem, too, to take kindly to the outward signs of civilisation, and all who can afford it wear European clothing ; but they are the stingiest, most begging, grasping, and altogether disagreeable set of people that it is possible to imagine. Although possessing large herds of cows and goats, they will not give a stranger a drop of milk until he pays for it ; but, on the other hand, they expect him to give them coffee, tobacco, and, indeed, everything in his waggon, gratis. February c,th. — Reached Kobetsi's town, where we found an Englishman named Funnell had estab- lished a store, and from him we were enabled to buy in a stock of meal and other of the almost necessaries of life, which we had so long been without. From this place we could see the Kuruman downs, the mission station being about fifty miles due east. The country about here was then in fine order, for, as rain had just fallen, everything looked green. The whole landscape was thickly wooded, and the 8 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. grass very luxuriant. Altogether, it was a glorious change after the desert country along the Orange river to which we had been lately accustomed. The great drawback was, that there was no game whatever, not even springbucks, the Kafirs having hunted everything into the far interior, so that now there is more game within five miles of Cape Town than here where we were, more than six hundred miles up country. We now turned south again, and on the evening of February yth once more reached Potgieter's farm. The two following days I spent in search of hartebeest, but though I worked hard, I saw none. The next morning two Bushmen came in and reported that gemsbuck were common near the Scurfde Berg, a chain of hills two days westwards from here ; so I borrowed Potgieter's cart, and started with the Bush- men to try my luck amongst them. February \^th. — Reached Witte Sand, a large hill of pure white sand. This white sandhill, surrounded as it is on all sides by the dark-red sand of the neighbouring country, is certainly a very remarkable phenomenon. Weather intensely hot. Passed the night at a Bushman town. February iGth. — Started from Scurfde Berg. Saw gemsbuck and blue wildebeest spoor, but could not come up with the animals themselves. February i^th. — Reached Scurfde Berg, where with great difficulty we gave the oxen water at two deep rents in the solid rock. These rents were half- way up the side of a steep craggy hill, and were filled with rain-water. Saw no gemsbuck. Weather intensely hot and sultry ; altogether terribly un- propitious for hunting on foot in the deep sand. February \<^th. — The meat we started with from r RETURN TO GRIOUA TOWN 9 Potgieter's being consumed, we had to go back at once, as there seemed but small likeHhood of our shooting anything here. Eventually, after travelling almost continuously for two days and a night, during all which time we were without food, we once more reached the farm, where I found my friend tired of waiting for me, and anxious to make a start at once for the Diamond Fields. March 2nd. — Reached Griqua Town. For some days past Laing had been unwell, and he now fell seriously ill. As it was necessary that one of us should remain for some time yet in Griqua Town, in order to get together some cattle, and collect a few debts at some of the neighbouring farms, I hired a waggon, in which my friend travelled at once by forced marches to the Diamond Fields, where good food and attendance quickly pulled him round. By the 12th I was myself ready to start, and six days later rejoineci Laing at Klip Drift, and was rejoiced to find him alreaciy convalescent. Upon reaching the Diamond Fields we sold off the produce of our trading trip — cattle, goats, and ostrich feathers — and found we had made a profit of about /^loo. My friend then returned to England, whilst 1 at once set about making preparations for a journey into the far interior. Buying a strong Scotch cart and four oxen, I first trekked back to Gric^ua Town, where I had already arranged with a trader, one Van Druten, to purchase his waggon, a span of young oxen, and five horses. For the waggon I gave /1 145, for the oxen £6 : los. per head, and for the horses ^11 apiece. At the same time I bought for cash some fat oxen and a lot of sheep and goats, which, after trekking back to Klip Drift, where I left my waggon, I drove over to Kimberley, and lo A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. i sold at a fair profit on the price I had given for them. Whilst in Kimberley I met a fellow-passenger, a young fellow about my own age, named Dorehill, a son of General Dorehill, with whom I had contracted a great friendship on board ship. He was then living with a Mr. Sadlier, who hailed from the same town as himself at home, and whom he had met accidentally at the Diamond Fields. On my telling him that I was off in a few days for the interior, he said he would very much like to come with me, but scarcely liked to leave his friend. However, thinking that on a long expedition such as that I was about to under- take, it would be better to travel in company with friends than entirely alone, I proposed to Dorehill to come, and get Sadlier to come too, and this was finally agreed upon. We now prepared for an im- mediate start, but not having very much money left to dispose of, and not being able to get anything on credit, as we had hoped to do, we had to content ourselves with a supply of Boer meal, sugar, tea, coffee, and a small quantity of ammunition, which, with a few beads, completed our outfit. In the matter of arms we were not very well off : Sadlier had an Enfield rifie, Dorehill a Martini-Henry carbine, and I myself a short Snider, besides the muzzle-loading double ten, which I had already found shot so badly as to be almost useless, and my little shot-gun. PLATE I 1. Eland Bull (Oreas Canna). Shot in the Mashuna country, Nov. 5, 1878. Length of horns, 2 feet 5 inches. 2. Gemsbuck 9 (Oryx Gazella). Shot near the Botletlie river, May 15, 1879. Length of horns, 3 feet 6^ inches. 3. Eland Bull (Oreas Canna). Shot in the Mashuna country, Oct. 5, 1880. Length of horns, 2 feet 3 inches. < ^'m^ ^ CHAPTER II Kuruman — Seventy-eight Elephants shot — Bechuana Chief, Montsua — Sccheli — Bamangwato — Scenery — Hard-working Missionaries — First Girafte Hunt — Lost in the Veldt— Great Sufterings — Cold — Hunger — Thirst — Ninety Hours' Fast — Loss of "Salted" Horse — Heartlessness of Natives — The Lost found — First Lion seen — Tati Gold Fields — Mashuna Diggings. At length we had everything ready, and in the end of April 1872, Sadlier, Dorehill, and I crossed the Vaal river and trekked away towards Kuruman, where we knew we should strike the main waggon track to the interior. It was not until the 26th of May that we reached Kuruman, although it is in reality only a {qw days' journey from the Diamond Fields ; this was chiefly owing to my horses running away from a place called Daniel's Kuil back to Griqua Town, and then scattering over the country, causing a delay of a fortnight before I could recover them. Kuruman was by far the prettiest spot I had yet seen in Africa. In the first place, the eye was de- lighted by a splendid spring of beautifully clear water, and, what is most rare in the desert wastes of South- western Africa, delightfully shaded by fine trees, and the magnificent fruit garden originally made by the Rev. Mr. Moffat was rendered most pleasing by the large groves of dark-foliaged orange trees, covered II 12 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. with fruit, unfortunately not quite ripe. We were most kindly treated by Mr, William Williams, a trader, who had only the preceding year returned from a hunting and trading trip in the Matabele country. He gave me much information about Matabele Land, and showed me the large-bore elephant guns which are universally used by the professional Dutch and native elephant-hunters. I eventually bought two of these very unprepossessing- looking weapons, which I will here describe. They were smooth-bore duck guns of the very commonest description, taking a round bullet of four ounces, the guns themselves weighing only I2|- lbs. They were made by Isaac HoUis of Birmingham, and what they must have cost originally I am afraid to say, for I bought them from Mr. Williams after they had been transported by bullock waggons over 600 miles up country from Cape Town for J^G apiece. With these two guns, and another similar but weighing 2 lbs. heavier, which I bought the following year from a Dutch hunter for ^^'7 : los., and using nothing but the common trade powder that is sold to the Kafirs in 5-lb. bags, I killed in three seasons seventy-eight elephants, all but one of which I shot on foot. Since then I have shot with very expensive large-bore breech-loaders and Curtis and Harvey's best powder, but I have never used or seen used a rifle which drove better than these common-made old muzzle-loaders. However, they were so light that, when loaded as they were by the hand from a leather bag of powder slung at my side (I find that an ordinary handful of powder is over twenty drachms), they kicked most frightfully, and in my case the punishment I received from these guns has affected my nerves to such an extent as to have materially influenced my shooting ir MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT 13 ever since, and I am heartily sorry that I ever had anything to do with them. The journey between Kuruman and Secheh's took us some twenty days. The distance was about 260 miles, but a great part of the road lay through a very sandy country, with but little water, and was terribly trying for the oxen. After leaving Kuruman the appearance of the country presented a marked and very agreeable change from anything I had as yet seen ; for whereas, with the exception of the coast- line, there is scarcely a tree to be seen throughout the western portion of the Cape Colony, Griqualand, or the Free State, the country now became thickly wooded with trees of a good size, and in many parts greatly resembled an English park ; the more so as the camel-thorn trees, which were most numerous, looked at a distance something like the oak. The great drawback to this portion of the country is the scarcity of water and the heavy, sandy roads. We passed but few kraals, but at most of the waters there were some Bakalahari tendinn^ the cattle of their Bechuana masters. A day's journey before reaching Secheli's we came to a large kraal under the old chief Montsua, a good-looking, portly old man, dressed, like every Bechuana of any standing, from top to toe in European costume, with colhu- and necktie complete. Just after leaving Montsua's, Dorehill and I met with an accident. I was taking some cartridges from amongst about a pound of loose powder contained in a small box in the side case of the waggon, when Dorehill came up, and looking over my shoulder with a pipe in his mouth, some lighted tobacco fell into the powder, which immediately exploded. We were rather badly burnt all over our necks and faces, 14 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. and the insides of our lips and nostrils ; our eyes, too, were badly burnt, and one of mine, indeed, did not get well tor a considerable time. Sadlier, who had been through the American war, and there learnt some things useful in such an emergency, at once rubbed a mixture of oil and salt into our skinless faces ; it was not a pleasant process, but I have no doubt it did what he said it would do, i.e. prevent the powder from leaving any mark, as it so often does. Upon reaching Secheli's we were very kindly treated by one and all the traders stationed there, and as soon as our eyes were a little better we paid a visit to Secheli, who is a celebrity amongst the Kafir chiefs of the interior. Like Montsua, he is a tall, portly old Kafir, and to me, a stranger, he appeared to be a very pleasant old fellow. He was living in a large well-built house, over the dining- room mantelpiece of which stood a handsome good- sized mirror ; above the doorway was a large clock, while in the bedroom I caught a glimpse of a fine iron bedstead. We had tea with him, and I was surprised to see it served in a silver tea-pot and a handsome set of china tea-things. Altogether, judg- ing only from outward and visible signs, old Secheli appeared to me to be the most completely civilised Kafir that I had yet seen. I have since heard that although a most diligent student of the Old Testament (for he can read the Sechuana translation), he is not thought, by those who consider themselves capable of judging, to be a particularly good and sound Christian. He was very anxious about Oueen Victoria's health, and seemed much concerned to hear of the recent illness of the Prince of Wales. There I met for the first time a Mr. Frank Mandy, of Graham's Town, a gentleman with whom 1 soon II WILD DOGS 15 formed a strong friendship, which 1 hope may never be broken. As he was just starting upon a trading trip to the Matabele country, where he had been before, I was only too glad to be able to travel in company with him, and to benefit by his experience. We left Secheli's on the 28th of June, before which time our burnt faces would not bear exposure to the sun. The delay, however, enabled our oxen to get a thorough rest before starting on the severe piece of road between Secheli's and Bamangwato. Starting in the evening and travelling all night, we reached Kopong early the following morning, but we were not able to get water for our oxen until late on the afternoon of the second day. As soon as they had drunk, we inspanned and pushed on again, knowing they would drink no more before arriving at Boatlanarma. We had even more trouble getting through the heavy, sandy roads than I had expected, for Mandy's heavily-laden waggon had a knack of sticking fast, when I had to unyoke my bullocks and pull it on a bit. Thus we were three days and nights trekking continuously before we reached water, and our poor oxen were in a terrible state from thirst. At Selinya, a fine roadside vley, about twenty miles beyond Boatlanarma, we first saw the spoor of a lion in the soft mud at the water's edge. That same evening, sitting by our fire, we heard a splashing, then a sort of groan, and running down with fire- brands to the vley, discovered first blood, then entrails, then a dead impala antelope. It had been killed by wild dogs, and although we were upon them almost immediately, they had found time to tear away the greater part of their victim's hind- quarters. We were much obliged to the wild dogs 1 6 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. for this timely supply of meat, for though we had worked hard and ridden far and wide, we had seen no game, and consequently eaten no meat, since leaving Secheli's. The next day, however, Sadlier fell in with a troop of hartebeests, and killed two, whilst I knocked over a little duiker antelope, with a very fine pair of horns. Two days and nights' hard trekking through heavy, sandy country, brought us to Bamangwato, then governed by Matchin. As Bamangwato and its present chief, Khama, and his people have been fully described by recent writers, I will only say that it is the largest native town I have seen in South Africa. It lies at the entrance of a gorge through a precipitous but not very lofty range of hills. Portions of this gorge are very picturesque, and in one place I was strongly reminded of the Creux du Vent in the Val de Travers, near the Lake of Neuchatcl. At the time I first visited Bamangwato, both its ruler, Matchin, and his people had a very bad name — which they fully deserved — among European traders in the interior. Since then things have changed for the better, and in no other native town in the interior of South Africa will a traveller now meet with so little petty annoyance from the inhabitants, or so much courtesy from the ruler — a state of things for which the able teaching, both by precept and example, of the hard-working and indefatigable missionaries, Messrs. Hepburn and Mackenzie, must have all the honour due ; indeed, of the natives I have known, savage or pseudo-Christianised, the only ones for whom I ever felt either admiration or respect, were some young fellows I met when hunting in the Mababe in 1879, and they proved to be mostly the sons of some of Khama's principal men, brought II LEAVE BAMANGWATO 17 up from boyhood under the guidance of the two able missionaries above mentioned. As all my horses were " unsalted " (i.e. had not had the distemper), and were therefore liable to die at any moment, Mandy advised me to try and obtain a "salted" animal. This I managed by exchanging my fine new waggon for a smaller second-hand one, a common trade rifle, and a salted horse, valued at ^75. This "swop" I made with Peter Skinner, a shrewd but uneducated Scotchman, who had made a considerable sum of money in the interior, but whose bones, poor fellow, now lie beneath the sod on the distant shores of Lake Ngami. At length, about the middle of August, we left Bamangwato. We followed the well-defined waggon track leading to the Matabele country, and travelling through a thickly-wooded district, and crossing three small rivers, the Mahalapsi, Metle, and Tauwani, arrived on the third day at two pretty vleys, called Shakani. At the last river, Tauwani, we found a few families of Bushmen herding a flock of goats belonging to Matchin, whose slaves they themselves were. From Shakani my salted horse ran back to Bamangwato, and we were delayed a week waiting for the Kafirs I sent to bring him up. During this time I rode out daily with one or other of my companions in search of game, and we always guided ourselves back by a low range of hills that ran parallel with the road, behind the vleys, and particularly by one single hill that stood by itself This I mention, because, as will be seen later on, it is to the fact of having had the position of these hills well impressed upon my mind that I probably owe my life. At last one evening we again made a start north- wards, and after a four hours' trek reached Lemouni c 1 8 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. pan, a large open piece of ground, in the centre of which lies a large pan or hollow, in the rainy season a veritable lake, but then, in the middle of winter, as dry as a bone. I'he country was covered in all directions with thick forest or scrubby bush, and, as all know who have travelled there during the dry season, was almost destitute of water, which was only found in odd pools and at long intervals along the waggon road. Except at Pelatsi (nearly twenty-five miles by road from Shakani), where, at the time of which I am writing, there was a Bechuana town, all this desert country, extending from the northern bank of the Limpopo north-west to Lake Ngami, and due north to the far-off" Chobe river, is utterly uninhabited except by a fe:\Y miserable wandering Masaras. As I have said before, it was August, and mid- winter in these latitudes. Though the sun was very powerful during the day, being fully as hot as in summer in England, yet the nights were intensely cold, and tea left in the kettle was often frozen — a thing one would hardly expect so far in the interior of Africa (over one thousand miles to the north-east of Cape Town). As the oxen and horses would not get any water before reaching Pehitsi — though of course we carried some with us for our own use — we again inspanned after midnight, and trekked on by moonlight till just before day-dawn. Being out of meat, Dorehill, Mandy, and myself then resolved to let the waggons trek on in the charge of Sadlier, whilst we made a round on horseback in search of game, intending to rejoin him in the evening. So, hastily drinking a cup of hot coffee, we saddled up our horses and started. In the early part of the day we came across a troop II FIRST GIRAFFES SEEN 19 of hartebeests, and, wounding one, had a long chase after it, but eventually lost it in the thick wood, which was very awkward to ride through. After this we took a course that we imagined to be parallel to the waggon track, and rode steadily forward till about two hours after mid-day, when, not having seen any more game, we turned our horses' heads eastwards and made for the road, which we hoped to reach in a couple of hours or so. We had ridden in this direction for perhaps ten minutes, when suddenly we descried in the distance, their heads appearing amongst the tops of the trees, a fine herd of giraffes, the first Dorehill and I had ever seen in a wild state. We at once started in eager pursuit, hoping to secure some fine fat steaks for supper, as giraffes are splendid eating and usually in good condition, and fat is a luxury that no one can properly appreciate till he has lived for a time on nothing but the dry meat of the smaller antelopes. The giraffes, about twenty in number, came up wind, looking splendid, with their tails twisted up over their backs like corkscrews, and we at once galloped obliquely towards them, and managed to make up a good deal of ground. They have a most peculiar gait — a sort of gallop, their hind legs being straddled out at each step and coming (one on each side) in front of the fore legs. If you only look at their bodies and necks from behind, they appear to be sailing or gliding along without making any movement at all. They get over the ground, however, at a great rate, and it requires a good horse to run one down. The great thing is to press them to their utmost speed at first, when, if fat, they soon get blown and can be ridden into, and, if the wind is favourable, driven for miles right up to one's waggons just like an ox or an 20 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. eland. At a hard gallop, however, they can spin along for miles, and so we found to-day. After a time the giraffes separated, and suffice it to say that, at the end of an hour or so, I found myself lying on my back, with my right leg nearly broken, by coming violently into contact with the trunk of a tree ; and, on getting up and remounting my horse, not only were the giraffes out of sight, but nowhere could I see either of my two companions. Though, of course, my inexperience contributed much to the unsuccessful issue of this, my first giraffe hunt, yet I cannot help thinking that my horse also had a good deal to do with it, for, having been bred in the open plains of the Transvaal Republic, he was quite at sea in the thick forests of the interior ; and if, when going at full gallop through a thick wood, you intend to pass on one side of a tree, but your horse, being of a different opinion, swerves suddenly and goes to the other, it is awkward, to say the least of it. My first object was to rejoin my companions ; so, not having heard a shot, and imagining they must by this time have given up chasing the giraffes, I fired as a signal, and at once heard a shot in answer far to my right, and rode in that direction. After riding some distance I again pulled up, and shouted with all my might, and then, not hearing anything, fired another signal shot, but without effect. As my horse was very tired, I now saddled off for a short time and then fired a third shot, and listened intently for an answer, but all was silent as the grave ; so, as the sun was now low, I saddled up again and struck a line for the waggon road, thinking my friends had already done the same thing. In this way I rode on at a slow pace, for my horse was tired and thirsty, keeping steadily in one direction, till the sun, sinking lower II A CHEERLESS RIDE 21 and lower, at last disappeared altogether. I expected I should have reached the road before this, and, attributing my not doing so to the fact of the path having taken a turn to the right, still kept on till twilight had given place to moonlight — a fine bright moonlight, indeed, for it wanted but two nights to the full, but, under the circumstances, perhaps a trifle cold and cheerless. Still, thinking I must be close to the road, I kept on for another couple of hours or so, when, it being intensely cold, I resolved to try and light a fire, and pass the night where I was, and ride on again early the following morning. Having no matches, in endeavouring to get a light I had to make use of my cartridges, of which I had only three remaining. Breaking one of these open, I rubbed some of the powder well into a bit of linen torn from my shirt, slightly wetted, and, putting it into the muzzle ot the rifle, ignited it with the cap and a little powder lett in the bottom of the cartridge. So far well and good, but this was, unfortunately, almost as far as I could get ; for, though I managed to induce some grass to smoulder, I could not for the life of me make it flare, and soon had the mortification of finding myself, after two more unsuccessful attempts, just as cold and hungry as before, and minus my three cartridges to boot. Were the same circum- stances to occur again, no doubt everything would be very difi^erent ; but at that time I was quite a tyro in all forest lore. It was now piercingly cold, though during the day the sun had been as hot as at mid- summer in England — regular South African fashion. Still, I thought it better to pass the night where I was ; so, tying my horse to a tree, I cut a little grass with my pocket-knife to lie upon, and turned in. My entire clothing consisted of a hat, shirt, pair of 22 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. trousers, and veldt shoes, as I had ridden away from the waggon without my coat. However, lying on my back, with my felt hat for a pillow, I put the saddle over my chest and closed my eyes in vain hope that I should soon fall asleep and forget my cares ; vain indeed, for the bitter cold crept in gradually and stealthily Irom my feet upwards, till I was soon shivering from head to foot as if my very life depended on it. After having worlced hard at this unpleasant exercise for a couple of hours or more, watching the moon all the time, and cursing its tardy pace, I could stand it no longer ; so, getting up with difficulty — for I was regularly stiffened by the cold — I ran backwards and forwards to a tree at a short distance until I was again warm, when I once more lay down ; and in this manner the weary hours wore away till day dawned. During the night a couple of hyenas passed close to me, enlivening the silence with their dismal bowlings. I have often thought since that they must have been on their way to drink, perhaps at some pit or spring not far oft ; how 1 wished that I had known where ! I will take this opportunity of saying that the howl of the African hyai^na is about the most mournful and weird- like sounci in nature, being a sort of prolonged groan, rising in cadence till it ends in a shriek ; they only laugh when enjoying a good feed. At first dawn of day I once more saddled up and rode in the same direction as before. My poor horse was so tired and thirsty that he would only go at a very slow pace ; so I did not make much progress. On coming to a high tree I stopped and climbed up it, and looked about me to try and recognise some landmark. On every side the country was covered with forest, and in the distance were several low II LOST 23 ranges of hills, yet nothing seemed fiimiliar to my eye. Right ahead, in the direction in which I had been riding, appeared a line of densely wooded hills, with one single kopje standing alone just in front of them, and thither I determined to ride. On the way I passed three beautiful gemsbuck, which allowed me to come quite close to them, though they are usually very wild ; but they had nothing to fear from me, as I had no cartridges, and so could do nothing more than admire them. Thus I rode on and on, until the idea occurred to me that I must have ridden across the road (a mere narrow track) without noticing it in the moonlight, as I had constantly been star-gazing after the sun went down, so as to guide my course by the position of the Southern Cross. After a time, I at last felt so sure that this was the case, that I turned my horse's head to the right-about, and rode back again in the direction from which I had just come. About mid-day, finding no road, I began to think that I was in stern reality lost in the veldt, without even a bullet to obtain food for myself, and no water within heaven knew what distance away, except the far-apart drinking-places along the road. And where was that road — was it behind me or in front ? Presently, coming in sight of a small stone " kopje," rising like a heap of rocks from the level ground, I rode to it, and tymg my horse to a tree at its foot, climbed up to take a look round. A most bewildering prospect it was — a vast ocean of forest on all sides, as far as the eye could reach, here and there bounded by low ranges of wooded hills, that were not visible from the level ground ; but nowhere could I make out any landmark to guide me in the least. As I looked steadily in the direction from 24 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. which I had just come, I saw a thin wreath of blue smoke curhng up amongst the trees, which evidently proceeded from a wood fire, not a grass one, and which I argued must have been kindled by human beings, in all probability Masaras, who would be able to guide me to Pelatsi ; so I promptly determined to retrace my steps once more, and make for the fire. After a time I got to about where I thought the fire ought to be, but, on climbing a high tree, no smoke was visible, as it had no doubt died out ; so, coming to the conclusion that the road was really behind me, and cursing my folly for having wasted so much time in following such a "will-o'-the-wisp," I again turned my jaded horse towards the setting sun, hoping, by keeping steadily at it, to recross the road before sundown. 1 may here say that, as I afterwards found out, I never had crossed the road in the night, as I imagined, but must twice have turned and ridden away from it when within but a short distance ; for, beheving that it held a north- easterly direction, instead of turning suddenly due east, as it does, a ftw miles beyond Lemouni, I could not but imagine (after riding such a distance almost parallel to it, as it turned out) that I had crossed it. It was by this time tolerably late in the afternoon ; but I still hoped to reach the waggons before night- fall, and kept my spirits up by thinking how I should enjoy a cup of tea and a damper with my companions round the camp fire. But, as the sun dipped lower and lower in the western sky, my spirits sank with it, and at last, when it finally disappeared, I had to prepare for a second night on the bare ground, without food, water, fire, or blanket. Cutting a little dry grass, I laid it down behind a bush, and my bed was made. Although I had twice ofF-saddled II HUNGER, THIRSr, AND COLD 25 my horse during the day, he had not eaten a morsel of grass, being too thirsty, poor beast ; so, instead of tying him up to a tree, I hobbled him, thinking he might graze a bit in the cool of the night, and thereby gain a little strength to carry me on the morrow. It was full moon, and fearfully cold, from which, in addition to hunger and thirst, I suffered intensely, almost shivering myself to pieces ; but everything has an end in this world, and so had this, tor me, most intolerably long winter's night. At the first streak ot dawn I endeavoured to rise, but could not stand up, my legs being utterly benumbed with the cold ; at last, however, I got the circulation restored, and began to look about me for my horse. But nowhere was he to be seen ; and I found by looking at the spoor that he had made off during the night (though fast hobbled) in search of water. The ground being rather hard, and the spoor (to my inexperienced eyes) difficult to make out, I soon came to the conclusion that it was useless to follow him, and so returned to where I had passed the night. I now considered what was best to be done. Far away in a south-westerly direction I could see a large high range of hills, which I thought might be the Bamangwato range, and thither, not knowing what else to do, I determined to direct my steps ; so, hanging my saddle in a tree, and shouldering my rifle, off I started. As it was now forty-eight hours since a morsel of food or a drop of water had passed my lips, I felt, as may be imagined, quite ready for breakfast ; but breakfast not being ready for me, I had to go without it. All that day I walked as I have seldom walked since, only resting at long intervals for a few minutes at a time, devoured by a burning thirst, and growing sensibly weaker 26 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. from hunger. I had started at sunrise, and when the moon was about an hour high, at last reached the foot of the mountains I had been making for, having crossed, I am sure, an enormous extent of country. I had been able to get over the even ground all right, walking along mechanically ; but, weakened as I was by want of food and water, it was all I could do to climb up the steep, rocky hill, and I was forced to sit down and rest at every few yards. At last, however, I reached the top, expecting to see the maize - fields of Bamangwato beneath me on the other side, and bitter indeed was my disappointment when I saw nothing but range upon range of rugged, stony hills. As, however, I now needed rest, and nothing more could be cione till the following day, I established myself behind a large rock and prepared to pass another cold and hungry night, in no very happy frame of mind, for I thought I was doomed to die of starvation and thirst in the wilderness, my fate remaining a mystery to all my friends ; but mingled with this came a feeling that it was too hard to die thus like a rat in a hole, and, though things certainly looked desperate at present, I still felt some gleam of hope that they would eventually come right. I did not suffer so much from the cold on the top of this range of hills as I had done on the two preced- ing nights down on the plain, nor did I feel the pangs of hunger to any great degree ; but, on the other hand, my thirst was now intolerable, my throat, tongue, and lips being quite dry and swollen, so that it was very painful to swallow. Before sunrise the next morning I left my stony couch, and went to the edge of the hill to take a look round. Being on a considerable elevation, I commandeci a view over a II THREE OSTRICHES SEEN 27 vast extent of country. Suddenly, whilst gazing ruefully over this wilderness of forest, I fancied I recognised a certain detached "kopje" as one with which I was well acquainted, close to Shakani " vleys," as well as a low range of hills on the other side, and one or two other detached hills. After carefully comparing their relative positions, I felt certain ot their identity, and that if I could only manage to hold out till I reached them I was saved ; but, as they seemed a long way off, and only loomed blue in the distance, no time was to be lost, so I at once descended from the hill, and started. When on the plain I could see nothing of the hills I was making for, and in order to keep my line I had, from time to time, to climb trees — a most difficult undertaking in my exhausted condition. So eager was I to get forward, that, when forced sometimes to rest through sheer weakness, I could not sit still for more than two or three minutes at a time, as something seemed to impel me to get up and push on again. During this day I saw three ostriches, two hens and a cock. At last, just before sundown, I got close to the kopjes of Shakani, and was making for the water, distant about half a mile, when I saw two Kafirs, no doubt returning from hunting. This was lucky, as, although I knew there were a fc\Y Bushmen herding some goats here, I might not have been able to find the two or three miserable huts where they lived (for the bush was rather thick round about), and should thus only have allayed my intense thirst, and once more gone supperless to a cold bed, which might have finished me. Calling to the Kafirs as well as my parched throat would allow, and giving one my rifle to carry, I followed them to their kraal (if three half huts, made of interwoven boughs, can be called one). 28 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Here I sat down, and instantly asked an old Bushman for water ; but, would you believe it ? the accursed old heathen, the ingenuous chiki of nature, would not give me any, but, holding a giraffe's intestine full of the precious fluid under his arm, said, " Buy the water " ! The " vley " was only about 200 yards off, but when a man has been four days and three nights without anything to eat or drink, he does not care to go even 200 yards farther than he can help ; yet, sooner than be thus taken advantage of, I would have done so, and was just getting up when a little boy came in from milking the goats, with a large calabash full of milk. On seeing this I changed my mind, and pull- ing out a large clasp -knite, the only marketable article I possessed, I said, " Reka marsi " (Til buy the milk), and soon got not only it, but a large gourd of water besides. Was it not a treat ! and, 1 daresay, about the very best thing I could have taken in my state. Thinking that 1 should be too weak to do much walking on the following day, I tried to make them understand that if one of them would go to the waggons and tell my friends where I was, so that thev could bring a horse for me to ride, I would pay him handsomely. However, the few words of Sechuana I knew were quite insufficient to explain my meaning ; so there was nothing for it but to make up my mind to walk to Pelatsi, which, according to Mr. Baines's observations, is twenty-five miles distant from Shakani. One man offered to go with me (for a consideration) and carry my rifle, and also, on my promising to pay him an exorbitant price for it in powder on my arrival at the waggons, gave me a very small piece of steinbuck meat ; after eating which, and drinking unheard-of quantities of water. II REJOIN MY FRIENDS 29 I laid myself close alongside a large fire, and slept soundly till daylight. The next morning, as soon as it was light, accompanied by the Kafir who carried my rifle, I made a start, and, though very tired and worn out from privation, managed to reach the waggons late in the afternoon, after an absence of five days and four nights. How I enjoyed the meal that was hastily prepared for me, and how delightful it was to keep out the bitter cold with a couple of good blankets, I will leave the reader to conjecture. It was really almost worth all the hardship I had endured. Mandy and my other friends had of course been in a great state of anxiety about my non-appearance, and had done everything they could to recover me. On the night of the giraffe hunt they had gone to the Kafir town at Pelatsi, and, on promising the exorbitant payment of one blanket per man, induced four Bechuana Kafirs and two Masaras from there to go in search of me. With these men Mandy, on the following morning, started back to the place where we had originally diverged from the waggon road the day after trekking away from Shakani, and then showed them my horse's spoor, which was easy to distinguish, being larger than that of either of the other two. He then went with them a considerable distance farther, and, finding that the two Bushmen ran along the spoor at a quick trot, and were able to follow it with the greatest ease, he finally left them and returned to the waggons. These Kafirs, of course, carried each a large calabash of water, and had the meat of an entire duiker antelope and the shoulder of a koodoo, so that they had a moderate supply of provisions for at least three days. On the evening of the next day these 30 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. scoundrels returned with a very lying and elaborate story, saying they had followed my spoor to a pit with a little water in it, where I had dismounted and drunk, and from there to the road on the other side of Shakani, along which I had ridden at a gallop towards Bamangwato. With this intelligence they came back to the waggons, relieving my friends of all anxiety (except that they wondered what on earth I wanted at Bamangwato), but kindly leaving me to die of hunger and thirst, or find my way back to the road as I best could. The fact is, they just ate up the meat Mandy had given them, and then, returning with their abominable lying story, got their payment and were happy ! My poor horse, which had been worth £So only three weeks previously, I thought no more about, believing that if he had not died of thirst he must have fallen a prey to lions or hyasnas ; but when I reached Tati, a Mr. Elstob, a trader there, thought the animal might have found his way back to Bamangwato, and offered me _^io for the chance, which I accepted. Several months later I heard this had actually happened, but the raw hide thongs with which he had been hobbled had so cut into his legs as greatly to reduce his value. Thus terminated an adventure which, had it not been for a sound constitution, might have terminated me ; as it was, I was never a bit the worse for my sufferings, except that during the next two or three days I experienced a soreness in the throat and a difficulty in swallowing ; but for all that I should be very sorry to go nearly ninety hours without food or water again, or to spend three winter nights without fire or blanket on the bare ground. The day after I reached the waggons we inspanned, and got to the Serule the following day, where II FIRST LION SEEN 31 (though this river is now dry down to the bed rock) plenty of water could then be obtained by digging. This being a noted place for giraffes, Mandy and I rode out to try for one, aiid soon came upon a solitary old bull, but as the meat of these old males is so rank as to be unfit for human food, we let him gallop away in peace, and went on in search of cows, a fine herd of which we soon came across. We at once gave chase, but unluckily Mandy's horse, at the very outset, trod in a hole, threw him heavily, and then galloped away at full speed ; so, as we had agreed not to get separated again upon any account, I let the giraffes alone, and pursued my friend's runaway steed, which I at last managed to catch ; by this time, of course, the giraffes were far out of sight, so we returned to the waggons and at once inspanned. Late in the after- noon of the following day we reached the river Goqui, where at that time there was a permanent water-hole, just where the waggon track crossed the river, ^ It was here I first saw a lion out of a cage. As soon as we outspanned, I had my horse saddled up, and taking one of my men with me, went out to try and shoot something for supper. We were return- ing home by the river and were quite near to the waggons, when my man suddenly said, " There's a lion ; I saw him put up his head." I looked where he pointed, but, seeing nothing, got off my horse and advanced to the river bank, when up jumped two lionesses that had been lying in the long grass, and trotted away. I fired, and at the sound a male lion stood up at the place where the lionesses had been lying ; he appeared a magnificent old fellow, with a fine dark-coloured mane. For some seconds he stood 1 This hole is now dry, thou,S;h water can usually be obtained by digging about lialf a mile farther u)) tlie river. 32 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. ir looking at me, only about eighty yards off", and off'ering a magnificent shot, but before I could make ready, he was off" after the others. As the sun was now down, and I had no dogs, I did not like to follow them into the thick bush, and so gave them up, a good deal disappointed with the result of my first encounter with lions. As I had seen a great deal of lion spoor at the water, I took my blanket when it got dark and lay by the river close to the drinking-place, but though, during the night, I heard some distant roaring, none came near the water ; this was perhaps lucky for me, for, with the foolhardiness of inexperience, I had made no shelter of any kind, but just sat with my back against a small thorn tree. Near the Goqui we first saw a large baobab tree. On our way from here to the Tati gold-fields, we saw nothing remarkable ; we crossed the rivers Macloutsi and Shashi, and at the former first saw rhinoceros spoor, but failed to get a view of the animals themselves. At length we reached Tati, where, at the time of my first visit, there were six or seven Englishmen, only two of whom had anything to do with the mine. A small engine about a mile down the river was driving a crushing-machine belonging to Sir John Swinburne. The shaft from which the quartz was being extracted is called the Blue Jacket, and was an old native digging (probably Mashuna). This shaft must be very old. It was accidentally discovered by some men while prospecting, who, after having dug away about a foot of the surface soil, came upon a large stone which they found was fitted into the entrance of what is now the Blue Jacket shaft, about loo feet in depth : a wonderful work for the Mashuna, but there is no one else to whom to attribute it. PLATE II 1. Koodoo Bull (Strepsiceros Kudu). Shot in the Mashuna country, Sept. i, 1880. Length of horns, in a straight line from point to base, 3 feet 5 inches ; measured over the curve, 5 teet 4 inches. 2. Koodoo Bull (Strepsiceros Kudu). Shot near the Victoria Falls, July i, 1874. Length of horns, in a straight line from point to base, 3 feet 7 inches. 3. Horns of Situtung.-^ Antelope ^ (Tragelaphus Spekii). Obtained from the natives on the river Chobe, August 1879. Length of horns, in a straight line from point to base, 2 feet I inch. 4. SiTUTUNG..\ Antelope c^ (Tragelaphus Spekii). Found dead on the Chobe river near Linyanti, August 5, 1879. Length of horns, in a straight line from point to base, i foot ID inches. CHAPTER III Massacre of a Tribe — Native Dress — ^Remarkable Scenery — Lobengula, King of the Matabele — Umziligazi — Slaughter of the " Headmen " — Battle of Zvvang Indaba — Lions — Piet Jacobs — -Terrible Adventure with a Lion — Mashunas — Elands — Start Hunting with "Cigar" the Hottentot. Towards the end of August we left the Tati, pass- ing the Ramaqueban river the following day ; here I hrst saw a sable antelope, one of the handsomest animals in the world. At this river is the grave of an Englishman named Firmin, who was killed here by an elephant, the first he had ever seen. This tract of country had very recently been one of the best hunting-grounds for elephants to be found in South Africa ; but these animals, when much persecuted, soon shift their quarters, and now both elephants and hunters have left these parts. By the river Impakwe is an old native furnace for smelting the gold out of quartz, and a little farther, by the Inkwesi, only a few years ago, Makobi, a Bechuana chief, and his whole tribe — men, women, and children — were exterminated by an army of Umziligazi's warriors ; to this day skulls may be found on the hill-tops, where the old towns were situated. At the time of my first visit there were no Kafirs living near the Inkwesi river, but in 1875 Lobengula established several large towns, where strangers on 33 O 34 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. first entering the country are now detained, while messengers are sent to the king to give notice of their arrival. A day later we reached the Mangwe, where John Lee, a man of mixed Dutch and English parentage, has established himself ; he was away in the hunting veldt, but on the many subsequent occasions when I have found him at home, he has invariably treated me with the greatest kindness and hospitality. We saw by the spoor that a large white rhinoceros had crossed the road within one hundred yards of Lee's house. Another twelve miles brought us to Minyama's kraal, the then frontier outpost of the Matabele country ; here we were delayed while messengers were sent on to Lobengula, asking his permission to enter the country, and here for the first time I realised being among savages, for it was the first place where I saw no European clothes, and I must say the people in their own dress, or rather want of dress, looked infinitely better than the greasy-shirted, ragged-trousered men to whom I had been accustomed among the Bechuana tribes. The greatest part of the inhabitants about here are Makalakas, whose native dress for both men and women is almost identical with that of the Bechuanas, than whom I think them, especially the women, a better-looking race. The few real Matabele girls we saw were very pleasant to the eye, having most good-tempered-looking faces, and fine, upright, well- developed, dark chocolate-coloured figures, the naked beauty of which was but little hidden by their very scanty attire, which in some cases consisted of a small flap of goat or antelope skin in front and another behind, and in others of a little fringe of " umbentla " (a soft fibre extracted from a kind of grass) in front, and nothing at all behind. The Ill LOBENGULA,KINGOFAMANDEBELE 35 scenery of the whole country between John Lee's and the Shashani river is very remarkable, and exceedingly picturesque. In many parts the country is covered with small hills composed entirely of huge stones, piled one upon another in the most fantastic manner, many of which present a very strong resemblance, especially by moonlight, to old ruined castles. Amongst these wonderfully picturesque hills the waggon road winds for many miles, until, shortly after crossing the Shashani river, it emerges upon the open park-like plateau of the Matabele country, which extends to beyond ^ Gubulawayo. We found that, owing to the scarcity of grass for cattle near the chief town, Lobengula had trekked away and built a temporary kraal near Amachee Maschlopay (white stones); so we too trekked straight across the country to where he was, getting there towards evening. Here we found Mr. G. A. Phillips, who had already been eight years in the country, trading and hunting, and he kindly gave us a goat to slaughter. The following morning Lobengula, king of the powerful tribe of the Matabele, came down to our waggons. He is a man standing about 5 feet 10 or 11, strongly and stoutly built, and even at that date was growing very stout ; he was then dressed in a greasy shirt and dirty pair of trousers, but I am happy to say that during the last few years I have known him, he has discarded European clothing, and now always appears in his own native dress, in which he looks what he is — the chief of a savage and barbarous people. After saying a few ^ This town was tounclcd by Lobengula in 1870, and its name implies "the place of him whom they wanted to kill," being derived from the verb " Bulala," to kill, and referring to the revolt against his authority by a portion of his subjects who favoured the pretensions of his rival "Kuruman." 36 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. words to Mandy, whom he knew and seemed pleased to see again, he asked who was the owner of the other waggon and the cart, and being told by Mr. Phillips, who acted as interpreter, that I was, he asked me what I had come to do ; I said I had come to hunt elephants, upon which he burst out laughing, and said, " Was it not steinbucks " (a diminutive species of antelope) " that you came to hunt ? Why, you're only a boy." I replied that, although a boy, I nevertheless wished to hunt elephants, and asked his permission to do so, upon which he made some further disparaging remarks regarding my youthful appearance, and then rose to go without giving me any answer. He was attended by about fifty natives who had all been squatting in a semicircle during the interview, but all of whom, immediately he rose to go, cried out, " How ! how ! " in a tone of intense surprise, as if some lovely apparition had burst upon their view ; then, as he passed, they followed, crouching down and crying out, " O thou prince of princes ! thou black one ! thou calf of the black cow ! thou black elephant ! " etc. etc. The Matabele huts are not as good as those of the Bechuanas, being built on the Zulu plan, with doors only about two feet broad and under two feet in height, so that it is a matter of difficulty for a man of the king's dimensions to get through. A day or two later I again went and asked the king for leave to hunt elephants in his country ; this time he asked me whether I had ever seen an elephant, and upon my saying No, answered, " Oh ! they will soon drive you out of the country, but you may go and see what you can do ! " On my then saying that I had heard that he only allowed people to hunt in certain parts of the country, and asking where I might go, he HI MYNHEER JAN VILJOEN 37 replied, " Oh ! you may go wherever you like ; you are only a boy," My friend Dorehill now accepted a situation with Mr. Kisch (a gentleman lately auditor-general of the Transvaal, and at that time trading in the Matabele country), and Sadlier and I prepared to go in hunting alone. It happened that just at this time two Boers, Mynheer Jan Viljoen and one ot his sons, had come out of the hunting veldt on horseback, to lay complaints against some Kafirs in their employ before the king, and as they were on the point of returning, they said that if I would wait a day they would travel with me to where their waggons were encamped on the river Gwenia, and then take Sadlier and myself in hunting with them. As Jan Viljoen was one of the oldest and most experienced hunters in South Africa, of course I jumped at the proposal. Although even then over sixty years of age, Jan Viljoen was still, when I last saw him, in 1879, as strong and active as a young man, and has doubtless been taking an active part in the recent troubles in the Transvaal. For a Boer, he is of small stature, though very tough and wiry, with a quick vivacious manner, and keen dark eyes, which betray his French descent. Although hating the British Government with a bitterness that can only be understood by those who know the cruel, mean, and unmanly policy pursued by many of our Cape Colonial Governors towards the Boers, he is noted for the warm hospitality which he is ever ready to extend to any stranger, British or otherwise. He told me he was among the foremost of the " voer trekkers " who, out of detestation of the British rule, left their homes and fled into the wilderness rather than submit to uncongenial laws ; he took part in the fight at Boomplaats, and, having been caught by Sir Harry 38 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Smith, very narrowly escaped hanging. When things were again quiet, he estabhshed himself in the fertile district of Marico, in the north-west of the Transvaal, giving his flirm the significant name of " Far-genog " (Far enough). On the third day from Gubulawayo we reached Inyati, the most advanced station of the London Missionary Society. There I made the acquaintance of the resident missionary, the Rev. W. Sykes. He told me that when he first came here, in 1859, game of every kind abounded, that he had often been called by the natives to drive elephants out of their cornfields, that he constantly saw buffaloes and rhinoceroses going down to the river to drink in the afternoon, and that lions roared nightly round his house, and frequently quenched their thirst at the little reedy pool not more than two hundred yards from his doorstep. However, times have changed indeed since then, and game of every description has now been driven far beyond the inhabited portion of the Matabele country. Between Gubulawayo and Inyati the road passes two places of interest in Matabele history : the first is " Intaba Izenduna," or the mountain of the head- men, a low flat-topped hill, which gained its name from the following circumstance. When Umziligazi first reached what is now the Matabele country, he passed right through it, intending to journey still farther northwards and settle beyond the Zambesi ; some of his indunas, however, seeing that the land was fiiir, with plenty of water and good pasturage, deserted their king and stopped behind. Umziligazi proceeded on his journey, but before long got into the country infested by the tsetse-fly, and, finding that his numerous herds of cattle were being Ill BATTLE OF ZWANG INDABA 39 decimated by these insect pests, retraced his steps to the elevated, fertile, and healthy country in which his indunas had already settled themselves. These men, who little expected to see their king again, paid dearly for their desertion ; the inexorable monarch surrounded them with his warriors, and, driving them on to the top of the aforesaid mountain, slaughtered them to a man. The second place of interest is the deserted town of " Zwang Indaba," situated on the Bembees river. It was here that a bloody battle was fought in i 870 between Lobengula's faction and the adherents of Kuruman, the rival claimant to the throne. Lobengula's force w^as numerically much superior to that of his opponent, which was, in fact, composed solely of the warriors belonging to the two kraals of Induba and Zwang Indaba, led by Umbigo, the induna of the latter town. These men, however, represented the flower of Umziligazi's warriors, and had they but been joined by the fierce regiment of Inyama Inghlovo, according to agreement, the day might have gone hard with Lobengula. As it was, after a desperate fight, he dispersed the rebels with much slaughter, burning down the town of Zwang Indaba and killing Umbigo ; he acted, however, very leniently towards the vanquished, permitting all who escaped from the fight to return home and become his subjects. Mr. Phillips, who with Mr. Sykes attended the wounded after the battle, told me that, although the king's people had many guns, nearly all the killed had been stabbed at close quarters with assegais. In many instances he found two men lying dead together, each with the other's assegai through his heart. On the fifth day from Inyati we reached Viljoen's encampment on the little river Gwenia, having 40 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. crossed the Longwe, Sangwe, Shangani, Vungo, and Gwelo on our way. With the exception of a few tsessebe antelope, we saw no game during the journey. At Gwenia we found the wives and children of the Viljoens all well. It seemed curious to find white women and children so hr in the interior, but the Boer elephant-hunters, many of whom have been obliged to leave Marico on account of debt, always take their wives, children, cows, sheep, goats, indeed everything that they have, with them. The way in which they live is this : — In the commencement of the hunting season, which lasts from May to December (the rest of the year being too unhealthy to do anything), they trek with all their goods and chattels to a " stand-place," where they build a rough-and- ready sort of hut of wattle and daub, thatched with dry grass, and here their women and children live while the men go elephant-hunting, stopping away from a week to a month at a time. During the unhealthy season they live at such places as Inyati, Gubulawayo, or Tati, buying with ivory and ostrich feathers the absolute necessaries of life, such as clothing, tea, coffee, and sugar, which they obtain from English traders established at those places. Some of my oxen were now in a fearful state of emaciation, as may be imagined when I tell you that for three or four mornings after our arrival at Gwenia, two of them had to be lifted on to their legs by means of poles passed under their bellies. When once up they went off and fed with the rest, but they were so weak and stiffened with the cold at night that at first they were unable to get up without assistance. Being young animals, however, they all pulled through eventually, and, as soon as the rains fell and the young grass sprouted, became fat and sleek. Ill UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT 41 As in three days the Viljoens were going in hunting on foot in the " fly "- infested country to the north-east of their encampment, SadHer and I employed our time in casting hardened bullets, and making all other requisite preparations ; but, the day before starting, I cut my foot in a way that made walking impossible ; my friends of course could not wait for me, and my feelings of chagrin and disappointment may be imagined. However, there was nothins for it but to make the best of a bad job. Old Viljoen kindly offered to send some Kafirs to the waggons in ten days, by which time he thought my foot would be well again, who would guide me to the hunting encampment ; and asked me in the meantime to take a span of his oxen, and one of his boys as guide, and go to the Mashuna towns of Musigagufa and Indaima to buy some Kafir corn and rice. This I engaged to do, saying that after having bought some corn, I would leave the waggon to follow, and ride back myself, in order to reach Gwenia without fail by the tenth day. The following morning the Viljoens and Sadlier started on foot for the " fly " country, whilst I, with a heavy heart, inspanned, and followed the waggon track leadino; to the north-east. In the afternoon we reached a little river called Jomani,^ where we found an encampment of Griqua and Hottentot hunters. They had a lot of ivory, and I did a little trade with them. The following night, whilst outspanned near the river Se-whoi-whoi, we were troubled by lions ; I had drawn the waggon against a large clump of bushes, and made a semicircular fence enclosing the ^ The "tsetse" fly has now come up to the Jomani, so that luinters of late years have had to travel by another road more to the south. 42 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. oxen, which were all made fast to the yokes, whilst on the other side of them I had lighted two large fires. Hearing a disturbance in the night I got out of the waggon, and, sitting on the fore-case, called out to my driver to know what was the matter. " It's a lion," he answered, and came up to tell me about it. He had just reached the disselboom when, with a growl, a lion sprang up from close to the wheel and jumped over the low hedge, followed by a puppy I had, barking vigorously. We soon heard the lion chasing the dog and growling savagely, and the next instant my cur came rushing back with his tail between his legs. I fired shots after the lion, and that night we were no more troubled. Next morning we found by the spoor that our visitor had crept from behind the waggon up to the fore wheel, where he was doubtless lying, looking for a fat ox, when I got on to the fore-case. Two days later, at the river Sebakwe, we found a large encampment of Boer hunters, and among them old Petrus Jacobs, the most experienced elephant-hunter in South Africa. Eight days before, this old Nimrod, who has probably shot more lions than any man that ever lived, had been terribly mauled by one of these animals, and was lying in a very precarious state. It appears that, being away hunting on the other side of the Umniati river, he was sitting in the shade of his waggon, when his daughter-in-lavv', the only other person there, called out " Kek, om Piet, kek, daar kom en vark af naar de water to " (Look, uncle Peter, look, there comes a pig down to the water). Uncle Peter jumped up, and saying, " That's no pig, my child ; it's a lion stalking the horses," seized his rifle, and, followed by three splendid dogs, ran down to drive the Ill MAULED BY A LION 43 marauder away. On seeing him the Hon at once decamped ; old Piet fired a shot after it, but missed ; the dogs at once rushed forward, and were soon heard baying in a httle hill composed of large blocks of stone, which was only a few hundred yards from the waggon. Reloading quickly, the old man, accompanied by a small Kafir boy, approached the hill where the dogs were holding the lion at bay, and soon saw the tawny monster lying flat and motionless on the top of a great stone, its head couched on its outstretched paws, whilst the dogs were barking furiously below, and endeavouring to jump on to the rock. As soon as the lion saw his new adversary, it sprang from the stone, and, hotly pursued by the dogs, charged straight tor him at full speed. While still at some distance, Piet Jacobs fired, and must have missed, for the furious brute, with open mouth and glaring eyes, rushed upon him and seizing him by the thigh, threw him to the ground and bit him fearfully. He was also bitten in the left arm and hand, whilst the left thigh, though fortunately not broken, was, as he expressed it, " chewed." All this time the three dogs were worrying the lion's hind-quarters, and soon made it so rough for him that he left his human foe to attack them. Fearfully mangled as he was, the old man struggled to his feet and staggered to the waggon, replying to his daughter's startled exclamation, " The damned lion has done for me." The animal got off, and the wounded man was taken back as quickly as possible to the Boer encampment at Sebakwe. I found his wounds were being dressed with fresh milk and castor oil, which seemed to act very effectually, for within two months the sturdy old fellow was again able to ride on horseback. Years 44 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. afterwards he told me that the wounds often gave him great pain, especially in damp weather. Remembering Dr. Livingstone's statement that when he was bitten by a lion he felt no sensation of pain, I asked Jacobs whether this was his case ; but he emphatically denied it, saying that each scrunch gave him the most acute anguish. I believe, however, that most people who have been bitten by a lion or a tiger, agree with Dr. Livingstone, and imagine that the shock to the nervous system caused by the bite of one of these powerful animals is usually sufficient to deaden all sensation of pain for the time being. From Sebakwe drift it is about forty miles due south to the Mashuna kraals, situated among the curious rocky hills I have before mentioned, and near the sources ot the river Bembees. Their huts were often perched high up on the crags in the most precarious situations, their corn-bins being often built on round blocks of stone at the very summit of the hill. The Mashunas live in small towns under many petty chiefs, and as, when attacked by the Matabele, they never combine and help one another, but allow themselves to be overcome piece- meal, they fall an easy prey to these fierce marauders, who have now depopulated an immense extent of country. The Mashunas are a peaceful and very industrious people, growing large quantities of different kinds of grain, including most excellent rice, and are good workers in • iron, making very good assegais, battle-axes, etc. They also have a musical instrument very similar to the " Marimba " of the natives of Angola, made of about twenty pieces of flat iron fastened in a row on a small board, which, being of varying lengths, produce different notes. Ill CIGAR, THE HOTTENTOT 45 This instrument is played inside a calabash, and, when unaccompanied by vocal music, is not at all unpleasant to listen to. All the domestic animals among the Mashunas are ridiculously small ; their cattle smaller than Alderneys, their goats about a meal for two, and their fowls no bigger than partridges. The Mashunas of whom I am speaking are living under the protection of Lobengula, to whom they pay an annual tribute. After buying corn and rice I left my waggon to be brought on by the driver, and saddling up my horse started alone for Gwenia, in order to reach Viljoen's camp within ten days as agreed upon. I slept the same evening at the Boer encampment at Sebakwe, where old Petrus Jacobs, finding I intended the next night to sleep in the bush entirely alone, would not hear of it. Remarking to his wife, " Allemagtig, de leevws will de arme dome Englesman opfret " (By the Almighty, the lions will eat up the poor stupid Englishman), he called up two of his Kafirs, whom he ordered to go with me, and carry axes with them in order to make a proper camp. The next night we slept, after having built a good fence round the horse, on the farther side of the Se-whoi-whoi river. On the way I saw a splendid herd of elands, one of which I shot, and a good deal of smaller game. Though we heard many lions roaring during the night, none troubled us, and the following day I once more reached Viljoen's en- campment. On passing the Griqua waggons at Jomani, I saw for the first time a Hottentot named Cigar, with whom I before long became much better acquainted. He had just returned from the " fly " country to the north, and brought with him a nice lot of ivory. 46 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. He told me that if I had not agreed to go with the Viljoens, he would have been glad to have taken me in with him, and shown me how to shoot elephants. Upon reaching Viljoen's encampment, I found that no Kafirs had yet returned from the " fly," Here I remained for a week, expecting news, but getting none. On the seventh day Mandy arrived from Gubulawayo, having come on with some goods to do a little trade with the Boer and Griqua hunters. I was rejoiced to see him, and as he wanted to go on at once to Sebakwe, I resolved to trek with him as far as Jomani, and then go in hunting with Cigar the Hottentot, rather than wait any longer for the Viljoens, who, I thought, must have forgotten me altogether. Upon our arrival at Jomani we found that Cigar had just returned from another short trip, and I soon arranged to accompany him on his next hunt, leaving my waggons and oxen under the charge of his wife. At last, just about the commencement of October, I bade good-bye to Mandy, and at length made a start in elephant-hunting with the Hottentot Cigar, As but few Englishmen, I fancy, have hunted in so rough-and-ready a fashion as I was compelled to do during this my first hunting season, I may as well say a few words concerning my outfit. Having now run through all my supplies of coffee, tea, sugar, and meal, we had nothing in the provision line but Kafir corn, and the meat of the animals we shot, washed down by cold water. Cigar, besides two Kafirs who were shooting for him, and carried their own guns and a supply of ammunition, had only three spare boys, who carried his blankets, powder, Kafir corn, and a supply of fresh meat. He himself carried his own rifle, a heavy PLATE III 1. Sable Antelope c^ (Hippotragus Niger). Shot on the Chobe river, July 15, 1879. Length of horns measured over curve, 3 feet 8 inches. 2. Sable Antelope c^ (Hippotragus Niger). Shot in the Mashuna country, Sept. 22, 1880. Length of horns measured over curve, 3 feet 7 inches. 3. Sable Antelope $ (Hippotragus Niger). Shot in the Mashuna country, Sept. 8, 1878. Length of horns measured over curve, 2 feet 8 inches. 4. Roan Antelope S (Hippotragus Leucophasus). Shot near the Impaqui river, Sept. 20, 1876. Length of horns measured over curve, 2 feet 5 inches. 5. Roan Antelope ^ (Hippotragus Leucophsus). Shot in the Mashuna country, July 10, 1880. Length of horns measured over curve, 2 feet 5 inches. 6. Roan Antelope $ (Hippotragus Leucophajus). Shot near the river Tati, April 22, 1877. Length of horns measured over curve, 2 feet i inch. To face page 46. HI YOUTH AND ENTHUSIASM 47 old six-bore muzzle-loader. As for me, having had to leave two of my Kafirs to look after my horses and oxen, I had but one youngster with me, who carried my blanket and spare ammunition, whilst I shouldered my own old four-bore muzzle-loader (the same before mentioned), and carried besides a leather bag filled with powder, and a pouch containing twenty four-ounce round bullets. Though this was hardly doing the thing en grand seigneur^ I was young and enthusiastic in those days, and trudged along under the now intense heat with a light heart. CHAPTER IV Eland shot — My First Elephant — " Cigar's " Skill in hunting Elephants — Abundance of Game — Successful Bags — Drought— Rain — Hard- ship— Maiming Elephants — Stabbing from Trees — A Murtler and Execution — " Bill " and the Crocodile. On the first day of our hastily organised venture, we shot a magnificent old eland bull ; and made a most excellent dinner on slices of fat meat from his breast, and a potful of boiled Kafir corn. Whilst our repast was preparing, Cigar whiled away the time with many a story about his elephant-hunting experiences, which he described most graphically. In South Central Africa, at the hunter's camp fire, the elephant takes the place of the grisly " bar " in North America, or the chamois in the chalets of the Alps in Europe ; and there are more yarns spun concerning him than about any other animal. As soon as supper was over, I stretched myself on my bed of dry grass, and, rather tired with my first day's tramp, soon fell asleep. On the following morning we were up before the sun, and, travelling in a northerly direction, soon became aware that we were in a district frequented by elephants, for wherever we looked, trees were broken down, large branches snapped off, and bark and leaves strewn about in all directions, whilst the impress of their huge feet was to be seen in every piece of sandy ground. 48 CH. IV FIRST ELEPHANT SEEN 49 About mid-day, while crossing an open place in the forest, we came upon the fresh spoor of an old bull, which of course we followed. Erom the condition of the bruised leaves scattered along his track we soon found that he was not fir ahead of us, and my heart beat hard with joy at the near prospect of at last beholding an African bull elephant, and perhaps managing to shoot him. Well, we had been following on his spoor for about an hour, when, all at once, I, who was walking behind Cigar, was the first to see him, standing in pretty thick bush, like an enormous ant-heap, fanning himself with his gigantic ears. The mighty beast was quite unconscious of our near proximity. We then went to the foot of a large tree, and taking off our trousers, stood just in cotton shirts, hats, and shoes — nice light running order. Then we advanced quietly upon our victim, who stood, broad- side to us, perfectly still, until we were within sixty yards of him, when he must have noticed us, for he wheeled round, spread his huge ears, and then, with raised head, advanced a few paces towards us. We stood motionless, and the suspicious brute, after staring hard for a few seconds, was just in the act of turning, when Cigar whispered to me to fire, so, aiming for his shoulder, I pressed the trigger. He gave a sort of loud roar, and rushed off, we following at our best pace, I myself with an empty gun, for I was afraid of losing sight of him if I stopped to load. Upon Cigar giving him a shot, he turned and came walking towards us, with his ears up and the end of his trunk raised. I now loaded with all expedition, and, advancing stealthily to within twenty yards of him, again fired, and striking him upon the point of the shoulder, brought him down with a crash. 50 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. He tried to get up again, but could not manage it. He was now in a kneeling position, and evidently dying, and one more bullet in the back of the head from Cigar's rifle snapped the cord by which he still clung to life. He was a grand old bull that, for many a decade before this, to him, fatal day, must have wandered "monarch of all he surveyed" through these pathless forests. His tusks were long, white, and perfect, and proved to weigh 6i lbs. and 58 lbs. respectively. As it was still early, we chopped out the tusks and buried them the same day, intending to pick them up on our return to the waggons. That evening, for the first time, I tasted elephant's heart, roasted on a forked stick over the ashes, which I thought then, and still consider, to be one of the greatest delicacies that an African hunter is likely to enjoy. The meat from the thick part of the trunk and from the cavity above the eye is also very well tasted, but needs much stewing to make it tender ; the foot I consider tasteless and insipid. Early the next day (Wednesday) we struck the" spoor of a herd of elephants, and after following it for many hours under a burning sun, at last came up with them fanning themselves with their ears under a clump of trees. Cigar again gave me the first shot, and, approaching pretty close, I fired with good effect, hitting a young bull, with tusks weighing about 20 lbs. apiece, right through the heart. He ran ofi^ with the herd, but fell when he had gone about a hundred yards. Loading as I ran, I got up to the elephants again, and with my second bullet brought down a fine cow that fell to the shot as if struck by lightning. Never doubting for a moment that she was dead, I ran past her, and once more getting pretty close behind the herd, I gave a young bull a IV A KIND PRECEPTOR 51 shot that brought him on to his hind-quarters. He regained his legs, and walked off slowly, and I managed, though now very tired, to keep up with him until I had the satisfaction of seeing him tall to the earth with a crash. I could still hear Cigar firing, but I was so thoroughly exhausted that I did not attempt to stir from where I lay panting in the shade cast by my last elephant's carcase. Presently Cigar returned. He had killed four elephants, and his boys two more. I may here say that Cigar was a slight-built, active Hottentot, possessed of wonderful powers of endurance, and a very good game shot, though a bad marksman at a target. These qualities, added to lots of pluck, made him a most successful elephant-hunter ; and for toot hunting in the " fly " country I do not think I could have had a more skilful or a kinder preceptor ; for although only an uneducated Hottentot — once a jockey at Graham's Town — he continually allowed me to have the first shot, whilst the elephants were still standing — a great advantage to give me — and never tried in any way to overreach me or claim that he had first wounded any animal that I killed. Strangely enough. Cigar told me that, when the celebrated hunter, Mr. William Finaughty, first took him after elephants on horseback, he had such dreadful fear of the huge beasts that, after getting nearly caught by one, and never being able to kill any, he begged his master to let him remain at the waggons. When I knew him this fear must have long worn off, and I have never since seen his equal as a foot hunter. We now went back to look at the cow I had shot with my second bullet, and were disgusted to find nothing of her but a piece of the tusk broken off in 52 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. her fall. She must have been struck too high, and only paralysed for a short time ; at any rate she made good her escape, leaving about 6 lbs. of ivory as a souvenir. On Thursday, after many hours' tracking, we again came up with a herd of elephants. This was an unlucky day with me, for although the elephant I attacked left the herd after receiving my first bullet, he yet ran clean away and got off. It is fearfully hard work walking for many hours on elephant spoor under a burning sun, carrying one's own gun and heavy ammunition, and having to end with a run. Cigar killed three elephants, all young bulls ; at night two parties of lions came down to the carcases, near which we were sleeping, and together with the hyaenas made night hideous with their noisy revels. On Friday, after chopping out the tusks, we walked back to our camp near the eight animals shot on Wednesday, where Cigar had left two of his Kafirs to chop out the tusks, all sixteen of which we found lying in a row on the ground. About this part of the country there were (at that time) many rhinoceroses, both of the square-mouthed and pre- hensile-lipped species. The day before I had counted eight of them, which we passed during our walk from camp to camp. Many kinds of smaller game were also plentiful, the noble-looking sable antelope being particularly abundant. Elands, roan antelopes, koo- doos, water-bucks, reed-bucks, impalas, tsessebes, zebras, buffaloes, duikers, and steinbucks, were also met with daily ; and in the river Umniati, only a few miles from where we were hunting, Cigar said there were a good many hippopotami. On Saturday we again took a round in search of elephants, and having found no fresh spoor by mid-day, we lay down IV FINE RHINOCEROS SHOT S3 in the shade of some large trees — Kafirs and all — and slept till late in the afternoon. Towards evening we were returning to camp, when coming to a little hill we climbed up it to get a view of the sur- rounding country. We had not yet reached the top when one of the Kafirs said suddenly, " Look at the elephants," or words to that effect. Turning my eyes to where he pointed, I saw at once a string of elephants walking quickly along in single file, not more than a quarter of a mile off. As soon as Cigar saw the direction in which they were going he called out, " Come on, come on cjuickly, they'll smell our spoor and run." We soon clambered down the little hill and ran to intercept them. We were just in time, tor as the foremost elephant, a huge cow, came upon our track we emerged from the bush not two hundred yards away. The keen-scented brute did not cross our spoor, but stopped dead the instant her outstretched trunk had caught the taint left by our footsteps. In this position she stood for a few seconds, moving 'the tip of her trunk about close to the ground, and then, wheeling round, made off at a run, followed by all the rest. From this incident, which I myself witnessed, some idea may be formed of the keenness of scent possessed by the African elephant. Out of the herd I managed to kill two, the second one after a very hard run, and Cigar disposed of three more. It was then dark, so we made a large fire and slept where we were, without blankets, alongside one of the carcases. The follow- ing Monday we started for the waggons, which we reached on the third day, taking as much ivory with us as the Kafirs could carry, and leaving the rest buried. On our way we shot a white rhinoceros cow with a fine long horn measuring 3 feet 7 inches. 54 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. I need hardly say that I was intensely delighted with the result of this my first elephant-hunting expedition, and was eager to start on a second trip as .soon as possible. Finding on my return to the camp at Jomani that the Griquas and Hottentots were out of ammunition and many other things, I decided to make a quick run back to Gubulawayo with the cart, and procure a supply of what was wanted from Mr. Kisch. Accord- ingly, having borrowed four fat oxen, I inspanned and started the following day. On reaching Gwenia I found that the Viljoens had returned from the Veldt, bringing with them a fine lot of ivory. Sadlier was very much dissatisfied, saying that the Boers had claimed an elephant which he had shot first, and, as he did not care about hunting any more, he returned to Gubulawayo. There being a splendid moon, I travelled day and night, and on the fifth night reached Gubulawayo, and loading up all I required except provisions, none of which were to be had, I started back again the same evening, and reached Jomani once more after an absence of only ten days. The country was now getting fearfully parched up and the heat very great, as the rains were due, and the most oppressive weather is always just before the rainy season commences. On the 2nd of November Cigar and I again went in on foot after the elephants, and in the afternoon of the very first day, after following some distance on their spoor, we came up with a herd of eight or ten bulls, four of which we killed, two of them falling to my rifle. Two days later, as we were resting late in the afternoon under a shady tree, and when not far from IV SCARCITY OF WATER 55 a small river for which we were making, a large herd of elephant cows walked out of the forest into a narrow open glade, about half-a-mile distant, which they quickly crossed, disappearing in the bush on the flirther side. Though we had been walking for many hours in the heat of the sun without water, having found that a rivulet where we expected to obtain some had dried up, and were very thirsty, we at once ran to intercept the elephants, and soon came up with them as they were walking through an open patch of forest. I fired first, and a large cow which I had aimed at fell with a crash to the shot as if struck by lightning. 1 was loading and running after the herd when Cigar called out to me, " Look out, your elephant is getting up again," and, glancing round, I was just in time to see my supposed victim regaining her feet. As she only walked off" rather slowly, I soon ran alongside of and gave her another shot, on which she came to a halt under a large tree. I then approached her cautiously, but she caught sight of or winded me, tor, raising her head and extending her ears, she gave a scream and came towards me at a great rate. I stood where 1 was and gave her a shot in the tront of the head as she came on. This shot was too high for the brain, but it stopped her at once, and she wheeled right round and went back to the same tree again, where I killed her with another bullet behind the shoulder. As all the Kafirs were with Cigar, I now walked back in the direction of the last shots I had heard, and threading my way through the bush, came suddenly upon a young bull elephant — one that Cigar had wounded. He had evidently heard me, but neither seeing nor smelling anything, could not make out my whereabouts. He looked very vicious as he 56 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. stood with his head raised and huge ears spread, testing the wind in all directions with the end of his upturned trunk. He was standnig exactly facing me, and in an awkward position for a shot, so I waited for him to turn, which he at length did, when I gave him a good shot behind the shoulder, to which he succumbed, after running at a sharp pace for about 200 yards. Immediately afterwards Cigar and the Kafirs came up. We were all excessively thirsty before we saw the elephants, and the run we had had after them had made us thirstier still, so we at once started for the little river not far distant, where we expected to find water. Just at dusk we reached it almost at the same instant as a bhick rhinoceros that was approaching from the other side. Ten minutes' walk down the river's bed brought us to the water-hole we were making for, which, to our chagrin, we found to be as dry as a bone. In this strait there was nothing for it but to follow down the course of the rivulet until we came to water. For several hours we trudged silently on, sometimes finding a little mud but not a drop of water, which had all been sucked up by the blistering sun. At last, about midnight, we came to a deep hole in which there was still a little water. The Kafirs soon dug it out with their assegais, and in another hour we had all quenched our thirst. It was a warm night, and so done were we, that, without making a fire, or undoing anything, we just stretched ourselves on the sand and were soon fast asleep. Early the following morning, hearing some of our Kafirs ex- claiming, How ! how ! holding their hands over their mouths and looking down at something, I went to them and asked what it was, when they pointed me out the spoor of a large lion plainly visible in the IV RETURN TO THE WAGGONS 57 soft sand. He had come to within fifteen paces oi where we had been lying, and then walked silently away ; I have no doubt that he had come to drink, and was very much disgusted to find us all rounci the water. At the end of another week we again, having found no more elephants, returned to the waggons, the more so as the long-wished-for rain had come at last, and we ourselves and our blankets had been wet through for two days past. The river, where only a ftw nights previously we had searched so long for a drop of water, was transformed into a torrent several feet in depth. The whole f;ice of the country was changed, and where, a w^eek before, we might have sought in vain, there were now ponds, lakes, rivers, and brooks enough. Near our waggons there was a grove of " Macunas," the handsomest species of tree in this part of the country, its wide-spreading branches being covered with dark-green foliage, and in some years with a profusion of yellow fruit about the size of a pigeon's egg. This tree does not bear every year ; its fruit is rather nice when perfectly ripe, having something the taste of a dried date ; the stone, however, is so large that there is not much edible matter to be got. It is a favourite food of the elephants, and they will come long distances to feed upon it. We reached the waggons on a Friday, and on the following Monday again went into the " fly " country after elephants, this time remaining away for a month, and penetrating as far as the thickly-wooded hills in the neighbourhood of the Umniati river, known by the name of " Mafungabuzi." On this trip we had rather a rough time of it, for, as all my Kafir corn was finished, we had to live entirely u]")on meat, 58 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. without even salt, and upon three several occasions went two whole days without food, for the game, which had been very plentiful before the rains com- menced, seemed now to have left this part of the country. The rainy season too had set in in real earnest, and we were constantly exposed to heavy downpours of rain. Every evening we made a rough sort of shed, but the heavy tropical rain came through our hastily-constructed shelter, and flooded the ground beneath us in such a way that we usually got wet completely through. During this trip I shot three more elephants, one of them a fine bull with tusks weighing 50 lbs. apiece. The day I shot this elephant Cigar had killed two others. We had followed their spoor nearly all day, and it was late when we came up with them. I had a very long tiring run after mine, and almost lost him. He made one very determined charge, trumpeting loudly, but I dodged round a bush and he lost sight of me, and at last went through the Umniati river, which was running like a mill-race. This was my last chance. I was some way behind him and very fagged when he went down the bank, but I managed to make a spurt and reached the river's edge just as he was getting out on the opposite side. The bank was here several feet high ; the tired and wounded beast had got his front feet on to the top, his hind legs being still in the water, so that his back was on a slope of 45 degrees, when, steadying myself, I fired into his burly carcase ; he sank on to his hind- quarters, then heeled right over backwards, and falling with a tremendous splash right into the river, never stirred again. Only a small piece of his rounded side, and the point of one tusk, were visible above the water, so that the next day we had to cut IV AN UNCOMFORTABLE NIGHT 59 off his head, and roll it down to a place where the bank shelved, before we could chop out his tusks. By the time Cigar joined me the sun had been down some time. Having no blankets with us, we made a good fire, chopped a tew bushes which we placed in a semicircle behind us, and cutting a little grass to lie upon, at once went to bed. I was tired to death, and soon sank into a dreamless slumber. My sleep had lasted about an hour when I was awakened by heavy drops of rain falling on my face. Getting up, I saw that the sky looked inky black, and that a thunderstorm was fast coming up. Ten minutes later it burst upon us, and to a fine accompaniment of thunder and lightning a perfect deluge of rain came pouring down, and soon extinguished our fire. As we were on the slope of a hill the water came rushing down the incline and added to our discomfort. Cold, wet, and miserable, we sat there until day broke. Sometimes I cursed our luck aloud in English, and one of the Kafirs echoed the sentiment in his own language. Otherwise none of us spoke, but endured with silent resignation what we could not avoid. During the trip we killed a young elephant bull that the Mashunas or the Banyai had attempted to hamstring by severing the tendo Achillis. Before the introduction of fire-arms, this method of maiming elephants and then killing them with assegais must, I think, have been general in this part of Africa, though it is now but seldom practised. The modus operandi has been described to me as follows : — -A cool and skilful man, armed with a very broad-bladed axe, made for the purpose, with a sharp rough edge, creeps up behind a sleeping elephant and delivers a blow with all his force on the back of the hind foot, about a foot above the ground, endeavouring to sever 6o A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. the tendo Achillis. It this is accomplished the poor animal remains where he stands, almost incapable of movement, a touching illustration of the triumph of mind over matter ; whilst if the blow is not delivered with sufficient force to immediately incapacitate him, the elephant receives such a tright that he dashes away in terror, without stopping to inquire into the cause of his mishap. All these tribes also kill elephants by stabbing them from trees with large heavy assegais made tor the purpose. When a herd of elephants has been observed feeding quietly along, several men will take up positions in trees on the line of march pursued by the unsuspecting brutes. Presently an elephant will walk immediately beneath a tree in which one of the wily savages is seated, on which, raising the heavy-shafted weapon with both hands above his head, he plunges it with all his strength between the animal's shoulder-blades. Away rushes the wounded beast with the assegai cieep in his back ; the heavy shaft swaying backwards and forwards forcing the iron ever deeper into his vitals, till at last, weakened by internal haemorrhage, he either talis dead, or is stabbed to death by the pursuers, who have followed on his bloody tracks. The blades of these elephant assegais are often two and a half feet long by two and a half inches broad, and the shafts though short are very heavy, being from two to three inches in diameter. On my return to Jomani I found Mandy had arrived there from Sebakwe. My friend Dorehill had also come in from Gubulawayo with some goods to trade with the Griqua and Boer hunters, so we were once more together again, and had a good talk over our several experiences since we had last met. Mandy had been in with an English elephant- IV A MURDER AND EXECUTION 6i hunter, Mr. George Wood, to buy corn and rice from the Mashunas, to the east of the river Hanyane. They had also bought a ftw quills of gold-dust that had evidently been washed out of the sand of a river's bed. A few days later, George Wood, who was standing with his waggon on the Se-whoi-whoi river, only a few miles distant, came over to our camp, where we regaled him upon rather high eland and Kafir corn. This day a little tragedy was enacted at the Griqua waggons. It appeared that a Hottentot in the employ of a Bastard man named Lucas, had, a few days before, murdered a Kafir boy in cold blood, having calmly blown out his brains because he did not immediately bring him some water when called. That same night Lucas caught and bound the young murderer, and brought him into the en- campment. All the Kafirs at once assembled and demanded his life in expiation of that of their comrade, and upon Lucas giving him up, at once knocked his brains out with their knobkerries. I did not know anything about it until the execution was over. P'rom what Lucas told me there was little doubt that the ruffian deserved his fate, but I was glad I did not see him killed. His body was dragged just over a little ridge not three hundred yards from the waggons. In the night hyasnas came and laughed and howled round the corpse for hours, but never touched it. The second night the same thing happened, but on the third they ate him up. Now, as these hyasnas were beasts belonging to an uninhabited country, they were unused to human remains, and had not, I think, lost their instinctive dread of the smell of man ; for in the Matabele country, where the bodies of people killed for witchcraft are always " given to the hyaenas," a 62 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. corpse is invariably dragged off even from the very gates of a kraal before the first night is many hours old. About the 20th of December, Mandy, Dorehill, and I, as well as the Hottentots, broke up our camp and started southward for the Matabele country, leaving George Wood still encamped at Se-whoi- whoi. On reaching Gwenia we found that the Boers had already trekked out. Here occurred rather a curious incident. We were strolling along the river in the evening, looking tor francolins, when my dog Bill, as he ran along the water's edge, was seized from behind by a smallish crocodile, and pulled under water. The river just here was not more than two yards broad, but deep, and running at the bottom of a steep, high bank. Seeing what had happened, I at once jumped down the bank and stood close to the water ; the next instant poor Bill's head came above the surface, only to be dragged again out of sight. Seeing the white belly of the crocodile as he turned with the dog apparently only just underwater, I fired both barrels at him, thinking the report alone would make him loose his hold ; but it didn't. After a few seconds the poor dog's jaws again re- appeared. Reaching out the gun by the barrels, I put the stock near his mouth, and he immediately seized upon it and held on with the grip of a drown- ing creature (the stock of this gun bears the teeth- marks to this day). I then got hold of the dog's ears, and pulling with all my strength, got the crocodile — the creature still holding fast to the dog's hind-quarters — out of the water to beyond the eyes. Dorehill, who was standing just above, on the top of the bank, then fired into the reptile's head with a charge of shot, when he at once let go and we saw IV A PROFITABLE HUNT 6^ him no more. The dog had three bad flesh wounds, but soon recovered. I think that the narrowness of the stream prevented the crocodile from making much use of his strength. From here another four days' trekking brought us to the mission station of Inyati, and we finally reached Gubulawayo on the 28th of December. I have not mentioned my horses during this narrative, and suffice it to say that they had been dying of the fatal sickness ever since October, so that I only brought one back with me, which I gave to Lobengula, as the price of the hunting country. Besides the 450 lbs. of ivory which I had shot myself, I had traded nearly 1200 lbs. besides ; and altogether, after paying my debt to Mr. Kisch, found I had made a clear profit during the three months of nearly ^300. Let no one think, however, that this may be done at the present day, for things have changed terribly for the worse since that time — there being few successful hunters to trade with, and fewer elephants still to shoot. When I told the king that his elephants had not driven me out of the country, but that, on the con- trary, I had killed several, he said laughingly, " Why, you're a man ; when are you going to take a wife ? " Shortly after this my friends Mandy and Dorehill started for the Diamond Fields, Sadlier having already left for Bamangwato before our arrival ; whilst I elected to remain in the country and try and go in hunting again the following year with George Wood. CHAPTER V "InxwaLi" Dance — Matabclc War Dress — Black Rhinoceros — Bull Elephants — Linqiiasi Valley — Permanent Encampment — Hunting in the " Fly "— Profitable Shooting — Sketch of Country — Depopu- lation by Zulus — Varieties of Fauna — Sable Antelope — A " Skerm " — Extracts from Journal — A Grand Elephant Hunt — Narrow Escape of a Kafir. About the middle of January George Wood reached Gubulawayo very much knocked out of time by fever ; indeed he was so bad that upon reaching Hope Fountain, the residence of the hospitable missionary Mr. Thomson, he had to be lifted out of his waggon and carried into the house. Once there his troubles were almost over, and, thanks to the untiring kindness and attention of Mrs. Thomson and her husband, he was soon on a fair way to recovery. George Wood, with whom I became associated for more than two years, had the reputation of being a skilful and experienced hunter, and, besides this, I afterwards found him to be a very cool and courage- ous man, one whose pulse beat as calmly when face to face with a wounded and angry lion or a charging elephant, as it did when quietly eating his breakfast. He was the last of the English professional elephant- hunters in this part of the country, having hunted for many years in company with the veteran Hartley 64 CH. V MATABELE WAR DRESS 65 and his sons, the Jennings family, and Messrs. W. Finaughtv, J. GifFard, T. Leask, and H, Biles, all of whom had thrown up the game some two years previously when they found that the elephants were retreating into the " fly "-infested districts, whither they could not be followed on horseback ; for to hunt these animals on foot was generally considered to be too fatiguing a pursuit to be followed with much chance of success by Europeans. I very soon entered into arrangements to hunt in company with Wood during the following winter, and to spend the meantime in trekking about the Matabele country, visiting the outside kraals and doing a little trade with the natives. This we at once set about, and, during the next four months visited all the chief towns in the country, trading here and there, and making the acquaintance of all the chief indunas. In the beginning of February we rode to Gubulawayo on horseback, leaving our waggon at Inyati, in order to witness the grand dance of the " Inxwala," which is celebrated by the Matabele every year when the first-fruits of the earth ripen. About four thousand warriors assembled, besides a great many women and young girls. The men were all clothed in their splendid war dress of black ostrich feathers, which consists of a sort of cape of black feathers closely sewn together, covering their chests and shoulders, and built up over their heads in the form of a Highlander's bonnet, leaving only their faces exposed. From their waists hung quantities of leopard and tiger-cat tails or monkey skins, which with the indunas form such a thick skirt that you cannot see their legs at all. Some of the indunas, instead of the bonnet of feathers, wear a roll of otter skin across their foreheads, in which is stuck 66 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. a crane's feather, which waves gracefully in the air. This feather war-dress is most becoming, and makes even an undersized, ugly savage look well, and as the greater part of the Matabele are physically a fine tall race of men, they look magnificent, and when standing in a semicircle round their king, with their large ox-hide shields in front of them, must present, I should think, as imposing a spectacle as any race of savagres in the world. The young girls wear round their hips the brightest-coloured calicoes that they can manage to get hold of, which never, however, reach to their knees, the rest of their persons being nude. With their merry, pleasant faces, and upright shapelv figures, they formed the prettiest, if not the most imposing, portion of the spectacle. The dancing lasted three days, during which time a great many oxen were slaughtered for the assembled people, and immense quantities of beer were drunk. The third day was the most interesting. In the large outer kraal the four thousand beplumed warriors stood in a large semicircle about six deep, all of them continually humming a low chant, and every now and then bringing their right feet in unison to the ground with a stamp. At intervals, amidst applaud- ing shouts, some well-known brave, after being called upon by name, would rush out of the ranks and show how he had killed his enemies, going through a pantomime of how he warded off the hostile blows with his shield, and at last delivered the death- stab with his fatal assegai. Every downward thrust made with the assegai represented a life taken, and at every stab the warriors all hummed out with one accord the word " Jee." One man I watched had seven- teen lives to account for, another fifteen, and so on. V THE INXWALA DANCE 67 At last the king came from the inner kraal, and, advancing into the circle, stood in the midst of his warriors, dancing quietly by himself. He was dressed in monkey skins and black ostrich feathers, and really looked a king. His fiivourite sister, Ningengnee,^ was also within the circle, splendidly got up for the occasion, being covered with a profusion of beads, coloured calicoes, brass amulets, and silver chains. As she was immensely fat her gambols were more grotesque than graceful, and she was so short-winded that she was continually obliged to stand and rest with her hands on her thighs. Presently the king walked in the midst of his plumeci army to the open ground outside the kraal, and performed a portion of the ceremony which consists in throwing an assegai and then running forward and picking it up again. As he did this all the warriors ran forward as well, striking the inside of their shields at the same time with the butt end of their assegais, and producing a noise literally like thunder. Since then I have thrice again been present at the Inxwala dance, but have never again heard the men beat their shields as upon the first occasion. Although we commenced to importune Lobengula to allow us to go in hunting in the middle of April, it was not until the 15 th of June that he at last gave us permission to make a start. Even then, he would not let us go to the Mashuna country, but told us that we must hunt to the westward of the river Gwai. Shortly before leaving Gubulawayo, the Honourable Guy Dawney arrived from the south, accompanied by Mr. Moore of Natal, and soon afterwards left 1 Ningengnee, more ooiiimonly known to white men by the name of " Ni-Ni," was put to death in December 1879 by order of her brother Loben_£;ula, tor reasons not very cleai'ly known to any one but liimself. 68 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. with an, escort from Lobengula to visit the Victoria Falls on the Zambesi. This gentleman gained a great reputation amongst the Kafirs as a successful hunter, and is, I believe, considered by them to be the best runner that has ever visited the country. He himself was, I think, much pleased with his trip, and delighted with the beauty and grandeur of the Falls. After leaving Gubulawayo, we struck across country to the north-west, passing Bukwela's kraal, where we hired Kafirs for the trip, and crossing the river Gwai (tobacco) soon afterwards. The bed of the river was here composed of fine white sand, with very little water apparent above the surface, and was about 1 50 yards in breadth. After holding the same course for three days, we cut on to the hunting road leading from John Lee's farm at Mengwe to the valley of Linquasi, which for several years past has been a regular camping place for hunters during the winter season. The following day we caught up to a party of Dutch hunters from Mengwe, consisting of two sons and a son-in-law of John Lee's, and the Potgieter family, whom I had met a (qw months before at Sebakwe. About a fortnight from our start we reached Linquasi, a long narrow valley, presenting the appear- ance of an ancient river bed, with several fine deep holes of water along its course, which, being fed by springs, never dry up. On the evening of our arrival, as, riding in front of the waggons, we emerged from the forest into the open valley, we came in sight of a black rhinoceros coming down to the water, which we shot. Two days later we killed two fine bull elephants within ten miles of our camp. The Linquasi valley, which was as far as we dared venture V FORTY-TWO ELEPHANTS SHOT 69 with our waggons, owing to that scourge of the African hunter, the tsetse-fly, is situated about sixty miles as the crow^ flies nearly due south of the con- fluence of the Gwai and Shangani rivers. Here we made our permanent encampment, building strong lion-proof enclosures for our cattle, and erecting a small hut under the shade of a wide-branching goussy tree, and from here we made raids on foot in search of elephants into the " fly "-infested country to the north-west, our stay varying from a fortnight to ten weeks in duration. In order to cover more ground, and that the one or other of us might the oftener be at the waggons, to see that everything was going on as it should. Wood and myself deemed it advisable to hunt separately ; and thus, in the beginning of July, I left the waggons alone with eleven Kafir servants. My battery con- sisted of two four-bore muzzle-loading elephant guns, and nothing else, weapons which, however suitable for killing elephants, are altogether unfitted for the destruction of smaller game. Thus, although I shot this season a goodly number of elephants, rhinoceros, and buff^aloes, I seldom fired at anything smaller. In the course of four months I killed to my own gun 42 elephants, 1 1 of which were big bulls, whose tusks averaged 44 lbs. apiece ; I also shot several very fine cows, whose tusks weighed from 1 5 lbs. to 1 6 lbs. The tusks of the largest bull 1 killed, when thoroughly dried out, weighed 74 lbs. each. During the same time, George Wood shot about 50 elephants, whose tusks, however, did not weigh quite as much as mine, and our Kafir hunters also shot nearly 40 more, so that altogether we made a very profitable hunt. At the beginning of the season I could hardly speak a word of Matabele, but, after having liveci for 70 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. four months with Kafirs for my only companions, I found I could converse tolerably well with them. The tract of country in which I was principally hunting was a wild, hilly region, situated in the angle formed with the Zambesi by the river Gwai, which empties itself into the Zambesi about eighty miles to the east of the Victoria Falls. These hills are for the most part thickly wooded, though some are very rocky and precipitous, and nearly all of them rough and thorny. In some parts they open out into broad grassy valleys, which, dotted with clumps of trees and bush, present quite a park-like appearance. Most of these dales are intersected by small rivers, in which, during the dry season, water is usually to be found either in occasional pools or by digging in the sand, whilst after heavy rains thev become veritable torrents. In other parts, again, narrow steep-sided ravines, or "kloofs" as they are called in South African parlance, are met with, the sides and bottoms of which are otten covered with dense jungle, and such places form during the heat of the day a favourite resort of elephants and buffaloes. There is also another curious feature presented amongst these hills, which is, that some of them, although steep and rocky on all sides, are perfectly level on the top, like a table, and covered with very thick bush, to which large game are also extremely partial. All this tract of country, though claimed by the king of the Matabele, whose father, Umziligazi, drove out its former possessors, is at present unin- habited; but some forty years ago, before these all- conquering Zulus invaded it, murdering or driving away the inhabitants, it must have supported a large population, as the frequent traces of maize-fields, and V A GOOD GAME COUNTRY 71 the clearings, once the site of large villages, prove beyond a doubt. These people belonged to various sections of the Makalaka tribe, and on being driven from their towns and corn-fields, fled across the Zambesi ; whither their ruthless destroyers, being without canoes, were unable to follow them. The different species of animals that I noticed in this district, were elephant, black and white rhinoceros, buffalo, zebra, sable and roan antelope, koodoo, impala, reedbuck, wild boars (both the wart-hog and the bush-pig), klipspringer, and grys steinbuck, whilst near the Gwai are found many water-buck, and a beautifully striped and spotted variety of the bush-buck. Between the borders of the hills and Linquasi, a great part of the country is covered with dense thickets of wait-a-bit thorn, called by the natives " Isinanga," alternating with open goussy forests. Here, in addition to most of the game enumerated above, elands and giraffes are also found. ^ In illustration of the kind of hunting in which I was engaged during the season, I think I cannot do better than make a few extracts from my journal concerning some ot the most interesting of my experiences, parts of which were published a few years ago in the columns of the Field newspaper : — Having made a trial trip of a fortnight's duration into the "fly," during which I had shot seven elephants, amongst them two fine bulls, I found my- self, in the commencement of August, in the hilly country near the confluence of the Gwai and Shangani rivers, where I had been hunting during the past ten days with but slight success, having'only come across one troop of elephant cows, four of which I had brought to bag. So I now determined to try the 72 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. country to the north-west, in the direction of the Victoria Falls. As none of my " boys " (all native servants in the interior of South Africa are called " boys," no matter what their age may be) had any knowledge of the country in which we were about to hunt, I had all the calabashes filled with water early in the morning before starting, though from the lie of the land I hardly anticipated our suffering much from want of that thrice-blessed element. However, it is always best to be on the safe side, and as it turned out we did not reach water till late in the afternoon, when coming upon a large elephant path, we knew there must be some at no great distance, and following the path, soon came out upon a fine valley, running through which was a sand river with pools of water at intervals along its course. At some distance up the valley some zebras and impala were quietly feeding down towards the river, and nearer to us, just on the edge of the bush, stood a small herd of sable antelope— amongst them one particularly fine old bull, with a magnificent pair ot horns curling over almost to his haunches. Although we still had some buffalo meat left, and by firing with a heavy gun in the still of the evening I risked disturbing elephants, if there were any in the neighbourhood, still, as the wind was favourable, and we were as yet unperceived, I could not resist the desire to possess myself of those long sweeping horns ; so, bidding my Kafirs lie down, I took the most carefully sighted of the two elephant guns, which were the only weapons I had with me, and, stalking carefully from bush to bush, at length arrived within about 1 20 yards of the herd. At this moment the old fellow, being nearer than the others, must have caught an indistinct glimpse of me behind the bush ; V SABLE ANTELOPE SHOT 73 for, with head erect and ears cocked, he now gazed nitently at the spot where I crouched concealed. Seeing that it was useless to attempt to get any nearer, I noiselessly raised myself to a kneeling position, and, taking a careful aim at his chest, fired. At the shot he fell on his knees, but, recovering, sprang up and bounded off at full gallop after the retreating herd ; but his race was short, tor, after rushing along at full speed for about 100 yards, he staggered and fell, and in a few moments the remorse- less assegais of my Kafirs had quenched the last sparks of vitality that still remained. On coming up I found that I had made a very creditable shot, considering my weapon (a smooth- bore elephant gun, carrying a four-ounce round bullet, backed by fifteen drachms of coarse powder), the ball, after entering the chest rather low, and passing through the whole length of the body, having made its exit by the left thigh, grazing the heart on its passage. As it was now late, and we had both fresh meat and water, I determined to sleep here ; so, after cutting off the grand-looking head, and leaving some of the Kafirs to look after the meat, I went with the rest to try and find a suitable place to make a " skerm." But perhaps I ought to explain first of all what a " skerm " is. In the first place, to make one, a lot of bushes and branches of trees are cut, and a semi- circular hedge made, after which, the ground enclosed by this hedge having been smoothed to some extent with an axe, stumps chopped out, stones removed, etc., a lot of dry grass is cut and laid down in the centre in the form of a bed, at the foot of which a pole is placed, to keep the grass from getting down into the fire, which is lighted some two or three feet 74 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. off. On this primitive but comfortable bed the hunter spreads his blanket, his Kafir servants sleeping within the hedge on each side of him, with fires at their feet also. During the dry season, which lasts, as a rule, in these latitudes, from May till October, nothing can be pleasanter than thus sleeping out in the open air. The atmosphere is dry and bracing — in the winter time very cold ; no dew falls, and the tired hujiter on his bed of grass, with nought to shut out the clear starry heavens from his view, envies not the sybarite on his bed of down. By sunset the " skerm " was made, the meat all cut up and hung on poles, and I had finished skinning the sable antelope's head, and was just thinking about attacking my supper of stewed meat and rice, washed down with a cup of bitter tea, when one of my boys attracted my attention by remarking, " There's a rhinoceros." And looking up I saw a white rhino- ceros cow, with an almost full-grown calf, coming down a footpath to the water on the opposite side of the valley. My boys were very anxious that I should go and shoot one, as the white species at this season of the year are always very fat and excellent eating. However, as I wished to get on the next day, and they had as much meat, both sable antelope and buffiilo, as they could carry, I would not do so, as I consider it a grievous sin to shoot these lumbering, stupid animals, unless having really need of the meat, or when tempted by a particularly fine horn. About an hour after sundown a large troop of buffaloes came down to a pool a little way up the river, and we could hear them grunting and splashing about for a long time ; a troop of lions also awoke the echoes of the night with their grand music, but at V GOOD ELEPHANT COUNTRY 75 some distance off; and a couple of hyaenas, giving vent at intervals to their weird, melancholy howls, testified, I suppose, to their appreciation of the remains of the sable antelope. At last, lulled by these voices of the wilderness, and tired by a long day's march, I fell asleep, nor awoke before the light in the eastern sky proclaimed the advent of another day. This day's walk led us through an undulating country, bordering on the rough, rugged hills which stretch from here to the Zambesi. We crossed a good deal of elephant spoor during the forenoon, some not more than a day or two old, but saw none absolutely fresh until late in the afternoon, when we crossed the spoor of a troop of bulls that had passed during the preceding night. The " veldt " about here seemed admirably suited for elephants, as there were great quantities of the " machabel " tree, of which they are particularly fond. As the sun was now fast sinking towards the horizon, it behoved us to look for water and arrange our camp for the night. From the game spoor about — zebra, impala, rhinoceros, buffalo, etc., all of which are animals that drink regularly every day — we knew there must be either a vley or river at no great distance ; and soon afterwards, at the foot of a long low hill, we came to a deep watercourse, and, following it down for about a mile, discovered a small water hole under a high bank, which had evidently been dug out in the sand by elephants or other game. However, from the broad footpaths which continued down the river, trampled deep into the ground by generations of their huge feet, and with quite recent spoor upon them, it was plain to me that there was a larger pool at no great distance ; so, as there was 76 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. sufficient water for drinking purposes at the small hole, and it being already late, I directed my boys to make a skerm on the slope of a hill close by, and then, taking one of my gun-carriers with me, went down the river to see if it was anywhere near. I had not gone a hundred yards before a large herd of buffaloes and zebras feeding on the bank, and some in the river bed about three hundred yards off, showed me that there was water near. Having still some fresh meat, and not wishing to fire for fear of disturbing elephants, I walked straight down towards the buffaloes, who, after taking a good look at the intruder, turned, and, headed by the zebras, went off at a lumbering gallop for about a hundred yards, then collected into a dense mass, turned again, took another look, and finally disappeared over a piece of rising ground. I now went down to look at the water, and found not one, but a succession of large pools. At one place there was a little basin under a steep bank, as clear and cool as crystal, as it was so sheltered by the overhanging ledge that the sun never shone upon it. Running down to these pools, at right angles to the course of the river, were two valleys between low ranges of hills, down each of which, and along both banks of the river, came innumerable elephant paths, all converging to the water holes. By the spoor, the broken trees round about, etc., this seemed to be an old time-honoured drinking-place of theirs, and, moreover, as if only the males resorted to it, for — although up and down the river, along the paths, and all around, lay the spoor, some old, some quite fresh, of what my imagination pictured to be gigantic tusked bulls — not a single cow spoor was to be seen. The tracks of game, too, of almost every sort, but V ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING 77 especially rhinoceros (both white and black) and buffalo, proclaimed it a favourite resort of these animals also ; indeed, it seemed to me that I had reached a hunter's paradise at last, and so, with joyful expectations for the morrow, I returned with a Hght heart to the skerm, and determined to stop where I was, at the small pool, which was about a quarter of a mile from the drinking-place, as we should not then be likely to disturb elephants coming down to drink at night. It was just dark when I reached the skerm ; so, after discussing a frugal but hearty supper, and telling the Kafirs not to make a noise, I was soon dreaming of elephants with abnormal tusks, rhinoceroses with horns five feet long, and other equally pleasant fictions. About midnight I awoke with a start, with the idea that an elephant had " run me in," and was about to work its wicked will upon me ; but, looking up, found one of my boys shaking me by the shoulder, who, with eyes gleaming through the darkness with excitement, informed me that elephants were drinking down at the water, as he had just heard one trumpet. The boys were all up now, and we sat round the smouldering fires, listening with painful intensity for the wished -for sound. " Nansia ! " (There it is) burst from the Kafirs like one man, and the trumpeting of an elephant, evidently down at tne water, rang out once more shrill and clear on the still night air. We sat up listening for perhaps an hour, but heard nothing further — nothing at least but the snorting of a black rhinoceros, also on his way to drink — and so once more lay down to recruit ourselves with sleep for the anticipated struggle on the morrow. Early next morning, as soon as it began to grow 78 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. light, we were up and stirring, and after looking at the priming of the guns, filling the powder bags (when elephant-hunting on foot, we load with the hand from a leather powder bag hung at the side), and putting ten four-ounce bullets into each pouch, I hastily drank a cup of strong coffee, ate a few mouthfuls of grilled meat, and started for the water, leaving my two youngest Kafir boys to look after my blankets and all the traps at the skerm. Arrived at the nearest pool, the first glance con- vinced us that our ears had not played us false in the night ; for there, deeply impressed in the soft mud, lay the giant footprints of several splendid bulls. A caretul survey round about soon showed us that they had come down by the valley to the right, and after drinking and splashing about at all the pools, had gone out into the low hills on the left ; so putting Minyama, my best spooring Kafir, on the track, we lost no time in starting in pursuit. The troop, as well as could be judged, consisted of about ten or twelve bulls, amongst them three or four regular old teasers, with footprints nearly two feet in diameter. The spoor led us in a north-easterly direction, across low undulating hills, and thev had evidently taken it easy here, feeding about on the succulent " machabel " trees, which were very numerous ; such havoc, indeed, had they committed, that it was easy to follow them without looking for the footprints, just by glancing on ahead at the trees stripped of their bark, and the clusters of fresh leaves and chewed bark left along their track. After following their spoor for about a couple of hours across this sort of country, it led us to some much higher and more rugged hills, and here they had ceased to feed and taken to an old path, stepping it V "NANSIA INXUBU" 79 out at a brisk pace in single file. After following the spoor for about another hour along this path, it once more left it, and struck off again in the old direction across the hills, and, just here getting amongst a lot of yesterday's tracks, ^ye had great difficulty in following it ; but at length Minyama, with the sagacity and perseverance of a bloodhound, ferreted it out, and away we went again. About eleven o'clock we got into a patch of very thick scrubby bush (what the Kafirs call " idoro " bush), in a deep kloof between the hills, and here we went along with great care and caution, expecting every instant to see the elephants, as I made sure they would not pass a place so favourable for their mid-day siesta ; howev^er, they went clean out of here, and up the steep hill on the other side. Arrived at the top, we looked down upon a large kloof, enclosed on all sides with steep hills, and covered with dense bush, thicker a good deal than that we had just come through, and as 1 looked I felt sure my friends were standing sleeping not many hundred yards off (it being now about mid-day, and the sun very hot). The Kafirs here took off their raw-hide sandals, that they might walk more quietly, and following the spoor carefully, we descendeci cautiously into the depths of the kloof, and near the centre of it came to a place from which they had evidently not long moved on, as the dung was still warm. Before we had proceeded a hundred yards farther, Minyama suddenly came to a halt, and crouching down, with his arm pointing forwards and his head turned towards me, whispered, " Nansia incubu " (There are the elephants). Ah, how those two words thrill through the hunter's breast, making his heart leap again with concentrated excitement I 8o A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Stooping down, I now saw them not more than thirty yards off, for the bush was very dense. They were standing huddled together in a mass under the shade of a large tree, gently flapping their huge ears in a sleepy, contented sort of way, all unconscious of the deadly enemy that lurked so near. Judging that when they were started they would make for the steep banks of the kloof, either on the one side or the other, and as what little wind there was was blowing from them towards where we were standing, I sent two of my boys up each side to drive them towards me it they came in their direction (it is usually an easy matter to turn elephants by shouting in front of them, though of course it sometimes happens that, instead of turning, they charge in the direction of the noise). Having made these arrangements, and after taking a gulp of water from the calabash and giving a hitch to my belt, I beckoned to my two gun-carriers, and then taking my first gun, crept quietly to within about twenty yards of the still unconscious elephants, to look for the finest pair of ivories. Owing to the way in which they were crowded together, I could not get a very good view of most of them ; one, however, standing to the left of the rest, and turned half away from me, showed a fine long tusk on the right-hand side, offering at the same time a good shot behind the shoulder ; and so, not seeing a better chance, I fired. I had hoped to get another shot with the second gun, but the bush was so thick, and the elephants broke away in their panic with such despatch, that I could not get a chance ; so calling to my second gun-carrier to keep close, I ran as hard as I could after them. At their first set-off", running all close together, they had cleared a path like a waggon road ; but on reaching V EFFECT OF FOUR-OUNCE BULLET 8i the steep side of the hill they had to slacken their speed (elephants can only go very steadily up-hill, but down, no matter how rough be the ground, they run at a tremendous pace). At about 1 50 yards from the starting-place, the one I had fired at as they stood fell dead, having been shot through the heart, and I dashed past him after the others. Luckily, they ran right on to the two Kafir boys that I had sent up the hill on the right- hand side of the kloof before firing, and on their shouting lustily, immediately turned and came rushing down again, carrying trees, bushes, stones, and every- thing before them, right past me. As they went by I gave one a shot somewhere about the shoulder ; but the bush being so thick, it was little more than a snap shot, and, although my first gun was loaded again, I had no time for another. However, a four- ounce round bullet, hardened with zinc and quick- silver, is no trifle, even to such a mighty beast as an African bull elephant, and immediately on getting it he slackened his pace, and, not being able to keep up with the rest, turned out and took along the side of the hill, I did my best to keep up with him ; but, although he now only went at a sort of long half walk, half trot, 1 had to put my best foot foremost to maintain my position in the thick bush, as an elephant, though so large an animal, is a thing easily lost sight of I was careful to keep under the wind, as a wounded elephant is apt to make himself dis- agreeable, and trusts more to his scent than his eyesight in charging. Three several times did I range alongside, and take the gun from my Kafir's hands to fire ; but the bush was so thick that, though at very close quarters, I could not get a chance, and had to run on again, hoping the ground would get a G 82 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. little more open presently. At last, having crossed the bottom ot the kloof, he either heard something or got a whiff of tainted air, and turning suddenly round, with his huge ears extended, his trunk stretched straight out, and his wicked, vicious-looking eyes gazing in our direction, stood ready to charge, no doubt, if he could but ascertain our exact where- abouts. But small time was allowed him for con- sideration, for to get the gun. to my shoulder and plant a bullet in his exposed chest was the work of but {qw seconds. On receiving the ball he fell on his knees, but recovering, picked himself slowly up, turned, and resumed his retreat, but now only at a slow walk. At this instant, glancing to the right, I perceived four more elephants coming down the side of the hill a little on ahead (my boy Minyama afterwards claimed to have headed these and turned them back towards the bottom of the valley) ; so, believing that the one to which I had been paying attention was all but done for, and wishing to secure another if possible, I sent my second gun-carrier and two more boys after him, telling them to finish him, or at any rate keep him in sight, and then ran to intercept the other four. I was just in time, and as they passed in front of me, at not more than forty yards' distance, in single file, I gave the last one (he having the finest ivory) a shot in the middle of the shoulder, but a few inches too high ; however, it slackened his speed considerably, and he left the others. Quickly reload- ing, I foUov^'ed, and getting to where the bush was a little more open, shouted behind him, " Hi there ! Woho, old man ! " and, fatal curiosity, or perhaps a wish for vengeance, inducing him to turn, planted another four-ounce ball in his chest. He wheeled V GUN-CARRIER'S NARROW ESCAPE 83 round immediately, but, his strength faihng him, only walked a few yards, and stood under a tree, and, after receiving another bullet square in the shoulder, gave a fierce shake of the head, making his huge ears flap again, and, sinking slowly down with his hind legs doubled out, surrendered up his tough old spirit — looking, for all the world, though dead, like a tame elephant when kneeling for people to ascend to the howdah. Having heard some shots fired by my gun-carrier at the one first wounded, I now made all haste in the direction where the last shot fell ; when suddenly, not far to my left, the silent forest rang again with short piercing trumpetings, repeated so quickly one after another, and continuing for such a time, that I made sure one of my boys was caught — as when an elephant is either very near on to his persecutor, or has actually overtaken him, he emits scream upon scream in quick succession, all the time stamping upon and ventilating his enemy with his tusks, and only ceasing to scream when he has done with him ; and persons thus operated upon are seldom known to complain of their treatment after it is over. Before I could reach the scene of action the trumpeting had ceased ; so, calling to my gun-carrier by name, I listened anxiously, and in another instant was much reHeved to see him, still alive, but looking very crestfallen. There he was, without gun or assegais, all scratched and bleeding from violent con- tact with the bushes, and his eyes almost starting out of his head with fright, which was scarcely to be wondered at considering the trying ordeal he had just gone through. He said that, having given the elephant two shots, it just walked slowly on without appearing to take any notice, and that then, having 84 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. stopped to reload, he had lost sight of him for a moment, and so running on the spoor with eyes bent on the ground, had got almost under the brute's very tusks before he saw him, as the elephant, having turned and waited behind a bush, let him come quite close, and then rushing out, had kept him literally under his trunk for about a hundred yards, and would no doubt have eventually caught him if he had not been so weakened by. his previous wounds. In his flight he had thrown the gun and assegais away, and he must indeed have had a miraculous escape, for his back and the calves ot his legs had drops of blood upon them, that could only have come from the trunk of the elephant. The two other Kafirs who were near him, and had bolted on seeing the elephant charge, now coming up, I told them to take the spoor, that we might get the gun and then despatch him, as I was sure he was not far off. After picking up the gun and the assegais (one of which had been trodden on and smashed by the elephant), we took up the spoor, and, as I had predicted, had not gone far before we saw him walking slowly along, the blood dripping from his trunk, looking very sick — though he would very likely have tried another charge if he had got the chance, as sometimes they are game to the very last, and have been known to fall dead whilst in the act of charging. I now ran a little wide of him, in a half-circle, and getting in front waited for him, and as he passed gave him a ball, at about twenty yards' distance, through the heart. Directly the bullet struck him he broke into a run, and, after going for about a hundred yards, fell with a crash stone dead, bringing a small tree down in his fall. On examination this proved to be the finest of the three, his teeth weighing ^^ lbs. and 57 lbs. V A DINNER "A LA MODE" 85 respectively. Those of the one that fell on his knees, though long, were thinner, and weighed 42 lbs, each ; whilst, on examination, the one I shot first proved to have but one tusk (not a very uncommon thing in South Africa, though more often met with amongst the cows than the bulls), which I did not know when I fired at him. This single tusk weighed 53 lbs. As there was not time to chop out the teeth of all three elephants and get back to the skerm before nightfall, I resolved to chop out those of the largest, and send my boys back the next day for those of the remaining two. After about an hour anci a half's hard work the tusks were laid on the grass, and after cutting out the heart (the tit-bit in my opinion, though some people prefer the foot or trunk), all the inside fat — which, when rendered down, is nearly as good as butter — and some meat from the thick part of the trunk, we proceeded to make tracks home- wards, reaching the skerm just about sundown ; and I soon had a piece of elephant's heart, nicely salted and peppered, roasting on a forked stick over the coals ; and if I had but had a white companion with whom to talk over the day's sport and fight the battle o'er again, my happiness would have been complete. My boys, however, went in for a night of it ; for, after having gorged themselves with fat meat, they commenced dancing, sometimes all at once, some- times one or the other of them performing a pas seul, the rest clapping their hands in time to the measure ; then the whole day's sport was gone through in pantomime ; and all the while they sang wild songs, some extemporaneously in praise of their own and my prowess as hunters, while others were the old standard songs of their country, of which there is a large stock. Altogether it was a wild and interesting 86 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. v scene, and their naked figures and wild gestures, now brought into strong relief against the dark back- ground, and anon but dimly seen in the uncertain light of the large log fires, recalled vividly to my mind the pictures, in an old book at home of Captain Cook's voyages, of the South Sea Islanders dancing round the fire during the preparation of a savoury meal of human flesh. As we were a long way from the elephants' drinking-place, and a little license must always be allowed after a successful day's hunt, I let them have their fling, and they kept it up, eating, dancing, and singing at intervals, till after midnight ; at length, however, tired nature asserted her sway, and we all slept soundly till daylight. PLATE IV 1. Duiker Antelope (^ (Cephalophus Mcrgcns). Shot near tlic river Tati, Sept. 1876. 2. Duiker Antelope 9 (Cephalophus Mergcns). Shot near the Limpopo river, May 1880. 3. Oribi Antelope S (Nanotragus Scoparius). Shot on the Manica plateau, north of the Zambesi river, Dec. 24, 1877. 4. Klipspringer Antelope ^ (Nanotragus Oreotragus). Shot in the Mashuna country, Sept. 1S80. 5. Duiker Antelope S (Cephalophus Mcrgens). Shot on the borders of the Kalahari desert, July 1872. Length of horns, 5 inches. 6. Steinbuck S (Nanotragus Tragulus). Shot in Griqualand, Nov. 1871. 7. Steinbuck c^ (Nanotragus Tragulus). Shot in the Mashuna country, Dec. 3, 1878. 8. Steinbuck (^ (Nanotragus Tragulus). Shot near the river Tati, April 1874. 9. Grysbuck S (Nanotragus Mclanotis). Caught by a dog in the Mashuna country, Sept. 1 1, 1878. PLATE IV 4 6 MM W 1 To face page CHAPTER VI Journal continued — A Rest — Fresh Honey — Start after Elephants- Two Bulls shot — Tramp for Water — A Supperless Night — A Fortnight's Hunting — Burying the Ivory — Rejoin Wood — Black Rhinoceros — A Bees' Nest — White Rhinoceros — Six Bull Elephants shot — A Kafir killed — Disastrous Elephant Hunt — Narrow Escape — Accident — Return to Waggons. Next morning I sent a boy down early to see it elephants had drunk at the water during the night. As they had not done so, and it being Sunday, I determined to have a day's rest ; so, keeping a couple of Kafirs with me at the skerm, I sent the others to chop out the teeth of the two remaining elephants, and then taking my blankets and a copy of Byron's poems, and establishing myself under a shady tree, I prepared to pass a lazy morning. During the day a honeybird came to the skerm, chirping and fluttering about from tree to tree, and doing its utmost to attract our attention ; and so, reflecting that a little fresh honey is always a welcome addition to one's larder in the veldt, I told my two boys to take the small axe and a firebrand (to smoke the bees) and follow the noisy little fellow, and soon the faint sound of chopping announced that he was not hoaxing, as is sometimes the case, but had guided them to a nest hard by. In about an hour they returned with a large piece of mopani bark, bent up at both ends, full of S7 88 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. delicious fresh honey, to which 1 proceeded to do ample justice. Late in the afternoon the boys came back with the three tusks, and loaded with fat and meat. They reported having crossed fresh spoor, about half-way between the skerm and the dead elephants ; so, there being evidently several herds of those animals about, I resolved to remain at least a week here, and hunt the country thoroughly all round. During the night we heard nothing at the water, but on going down early the next morning were rejoiced to find that, nevertheless, a fine troop of bulls had drunk there, and gone out in the same direction as those we had followed on Saturday. Filling the calabashes, we were soon following at a brisk pace. For the first hour they took nearly the same course as those we had last shot ; but after a time, turning in a more northerly direction, the spoor took us on to one of the large elephant footpaths, which are so common in this part of the country. Here they had evidently stepped out at a great pace, as if something had frightened them. Hour after hour we trudged along the path, until I began to think we stood but a small chance of coming up with them ; but, as elephant bulls are not to be seen every day, I determined not to give it up yet awhile, although, as I rested under a tree for the first time for a few minutes, my boys tried to dissuade me trom following the spoor any farther — for, said they, the elephants are evidently trekking, and do not intend standing during the heat of the day, and we shall only have to sleep without blankets, food, and water, for nothing. It was a sweltering hot day, and our water was indeed very nearly out ; but, still hoping for the best, I bade them be quiet and take the spoor again, which they sulkily did. After another hour's walking the spoor again VI A MIGHTY BEAST 89 Jeft the path and took across the veldt, the elephants having commenced feeding again here and there, tempted by the soft leaves of the machabel, which grew in great profusion. About four o'clock I once more sat down for a few minutes' rest ; but I now had better hopes of coming up with the elephants, for they had been feeding quietly along for some time, though always moving forwards, and 1 knew we must have gained greatly on them during the last few hours. However, the sun was fast sinking towards the western hills, and I feared that darkness might come on before we could overtake them. My Kafirs now, knowing that even if we turned back it would be impossible to reach the skerm that night, and that our only chance of getting meat and water was by pushing forwards and catching the elephants, once more took the spoor with renewed ardour, and we had not gone far before coming to where they had separated into three parties. Two only had continued in the old course, and, as the spoor of these two was the biggest of the lot, I resolved to follow them. The country here became more barren and rugged, though the valleys were sparsely wooded with the now almost leafless mopani trees ; but, as the elephants had been feeding, breaking off a branch here and a strip of bark there, the spoor was easy to follow, and we got along at a good pace. From the appearance of the dung and the freshness of the leaves and chewed bark, we were evidently fist overhauling them, though, as there was scarcely an hour's sun left, and there is but a scant allowance of twilight in these latitudes, I began to fear that darkness would intervene before we caught them. At last, after another halt-hour's spooring, the foremost Kafir, 90 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. turning over some dung with his naked foot, pro- nounced it to be warm, and I knew we might now expect to see our game every instant. Indeed, not ten minutes afterwards my boy Minyama, who was in front on the spoor, suddenly bobbed down as if he had been shot, and I knew he had seen the elephants ; so, creeping forwards, I peered cautiously over the ridge, and there beheld two magnificent old bulls standing under a large mopani tree about seventy yards down the side of the hill. The largest was standing broadside on, and was truly a splendid beast, with a pair of remarkably long, white, perfect tusks, protruding far beyond the lip — the largest, in fact, I have ever seen before or since in the flesh ; the other was standing head on to us, but, though his tusks were foreshortened, owing to his position, I could see they were also both long and thick. They were evidently enjoying a little rest, their large ears flap- ping listlessly against their sides like two enormous tans, and little thinking of the persevering enemy who had followed them like an aveno-ing Fate through all their turnings, and now at last stood so near them as they slept in fancied security. There was, however, no time to be lost, as the sun had already disappeared behind the hills, and I knew I had, at the outside, but a short half-hour of daylight left. About half-way down the slope ot the hill, between where we stood and the elephants, lay a fallen mopani tree, which had been no doubt uprooted by one of these beasts during the last rainy season ; so, taking my gun, and followed closely by my second carrier, I crept, step by step, very cautiously down towards them. Though an elephant is very bad of sight, and one can walk almost up to one if the wind is right VI A BROADSIDE SHOT 91 and if there is any bush about, yet here, there being only the few dead branches of the mopani tree to screen me from their sight, 1 was afraid they might see me, and run before I could get there ; however, I reached the tree safely enough without disturbing them, and was just climbing over some of the prostrate branches to get to the farther side, when, unfortunately, I trod upon a dry stick, which broke with a loud crack, and the larger elephant hearing it immediately walked a few steps forward, and stood with his head up and ears extended, listening intently. I was now not more than thirty yards off, and he was standing broadside on, offering a splendid shot, but, unfortunately, with his shoulder partially covered by a small mopani tree against which he stood. That hindered me from getting a chance at his heart ; but there was no time to be lost, as he might imagine danger was near, and run at any moment ; so, taking an aim for his lungs (which, if in the right spot, is almost a better shot for large game than through the heart), I touched the hair trigger, I myself being nearly knocked down by the recoil of the heavily charged gun. On receiving the bullet the huge beast uttered a loud roar, half bellow, half groan, and, followed by his companion, tore down the gently sloping hill at a tremendous rate. Throwing down the gun to be loaded and brought on by my attendant, I, closely followed by my second gun-carrier and re- maining Kafirs (whose work it was to get ahead of the elephants and turn them back towards me), dashed after them in eager pursuit. At the bottom of the hill, about two hundred yards distant, was a deep watercourse, and whilst the elephants were getting through this we gained on them considerably. The ivounded one, on reaching the top of the opposite 92 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. bank, came to a stand, and, turning round, faced his pursuers, throwing the blood in streams from his upraised trunk. Being now close to him, 1 seized my second gun from the Kafir's hands, and was just about to fire, when with a crash this true monarch of the African forest fell, slain by the only living thing that could work him harm — ruthless man. I did not stop a second to contemplate my prize, but kept on at my best pace after the other, who was disappearing over the next ridge, about a hundred and fifty yards in advance. The country being pretty open, we were enabled to keep him in view, although a good distance off ; but the ground was excessively rough under foot, great boulders and stones lying about in every direction, and the way in which the huge beast scrambled over them was truly marvellous. At last he reached a broad dry sand river, with a steep high bank on the farther side, and as he entered it we were still some three hundred yards behind. Now was my chance, and probably my last, for I knew he would lose time in climbing out the other side, but when once up would make the running again, and as it was in the cool of the evening, the Kafirs would stand little chance of getting up and turning him ; so, though terribly blown, I gathered my exhausted energies together for a last effort, and, closely attended by my gun-carrier, made a spurt. As the elephant neared the top, toiling painfully and slowly up, I got to within about one hundred and twenty yards of him, and taking a quick aim, just behind the big ribs as he turned half sideways, fired. " Ingenile ! " (It's gone into him) said the Kafir, and we ran on again, jumping into the bed of the river just as he dis- appeared over the opposite bank. Tired and panting, we toiled across the deep sand of the river bed, and VI "THIRST WAS KILLING THEM" 93 on scrambling up to the level ground beyond were very much surprised and rejoiced to see the object of our pursuit not a hundred yards ofF on his fore knees, with his tusks resting on the ground ; and before we could get up to him he rolled over on his side, never to rise again. The bullet having entered just behind the ribs and driven well forwards, must have divided some of the large arteries just above the heart, for on cutting out that organ the next morning we found it had not been actually struck, as I had at first imagined. Thus with two bullets had I laid low two splendid elephant bulls, and I felt well satisfied with my success. But it was time to think of other things. Our last gourd of water had been emptied at about two o'clock, and as the day had been excessively hot, both the Kafirs and myself were much in need of a drink, even before we came up with the elephants ; and now, after our hard run, were suffering greatly from thirst. However, from the appearance of the deep holes dug in the sand of the river bed by elephants, we imagined that we should find water close to ; and on those of my boys coming up who, as they carried the water calabashes and axes, had not been able to keep up with us during the chase, I told all the Kafirs to cut some meat from the trunk, that we might take it with us, and then go and sleep near the first water hole we came to. They, however, protested that " thirsc was killing them," and that it would be better to go and get water first (thinking there was some close at hand), then fill the calabashes and come back and sleep at the elephant ; so, not thinking it would make much difference, I assented, and we immediately started down the river. It was now nearly dark, and we walked along the soft sandy bed, expecting to find water in one of the holes at 94 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. every instant ; but we went on and on, scraping at the bottom of one after another without success, till at last we had got so far away that I determined to go to bed hungry when we did find some rather than tramp back again to the elephant. Having been walking incessantly since the first dawn of day, and having had a most severe chase after the one last killed, I was excessively fatigued, and nothing would have induced me to stir a yard firther but thirst — not even the prospect of a good dinner, although, with the exception of the merest mouthtul of grilleci meat early in the morning before starting, I had eaten nothing since the preceding evening. However, water one must have : hunger only comes on in pangs, and can be tolerated, but thirst tortures one without cessation until relieved. In this manner I fancy we must have groped our way along for an hour and a half or more, and were beginning to despair, when, just where the river narrowed and ran in between two high hills, we per- ceived in the gloom of the overhanging cliff the out- lines of some native huts. On going up to them (crossing an old corn-field on the way), we found they had been long deserted. They must have been occupied by natives from the Zambesi, who had returned to their own country (probably from fear of the Matabele) after cutting their corn. This dis- covery put new hope into our hearts, as we felt sure there must be water near at hand ; andi> in fact, after walking a short distance and climbing over a few large boulders in the bed of the river, we discovered a pool under an immense rock, and soon relieved our thirst. On either side of us the hills rose precipi- tously, and though it was a brilliant starry night, but little light reached the bottom of this ravine, which VI A MAGNIFICENT SERENADE 95 was dark and gloomy to a degree. However, but little light is needed to enable a thirsty man to drink. After well satisfying ourselves and filling the cala- bashes, we commenced climbing the hill to look for a place where we might pass the night, and finding a tolerably flat ledge about half-way up, I resolved to go no farther. We were too tired to think of making a skerm; so, lighting a fire, I lay down on the bare ground, without a blanket, placing my felt hat on the top of a stone for a pillow, the Kafirs dis- posing themselves round two or three other fires ; and although I reflected that there were many other things in this world more acceptable for supper after a hard day's work than cold water, yet in spite of hunger, fitigue, and a bed on the cold ground, I felt elated and joyful at the thought of the successful issue of the day's sport. After a time the extreme feeling of hunger passed off, and I slept pretty well, though awakened at intervals by the cold. At about midnight two or three lions came to the little pool below us to drink, and made the narrow ravine resound again with their grand deep voices. At any other time I should have lain and listened with pleasure to this magnificent serenade; but just now, being very tired and wanting to sleep, I was glad when they took their departure, which was doubtless hastened by a few big stones which I directed the Kafirs to roll down the hill towards them, when I once more fell asleep, only to be awakened by the cold which always precedes early dawn. As soon as it was light enough we refilled the calabashes, and started for the dead elephants, as we had a hard day's work before us if we were to chop out the tusks and get back to the skerm that evening. Not having now to follow the bends of the river, we 96 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. soon reached our nearest prize, and, leaving half the Kafirs here, I told them to be quick and chop out the tusks and satisfy their hunger, and then come on to me and the rest of the boys at the other elephant. On reaching the carcase of the latter, I found he had incieed a splendid pair of tusks — the upper one, as he lay on his side, protruding 4 feet beyond the lip, measuring (after being chopped out) 6^ feet in length, and weighing 84 Ibs.,^ the lower tusk being almost exactly similar, but weighing 2 lbs. less ; the other had also a very fine pair of tusks, weighing 59 lbs. each ; and after I had put a few square inches of elephant's heart out of sight (1 am afraid to say how many), I felt at peace with all mankind, and well repaid for all the little inconveniences I had gone through on the previous day. In about an hour and a half the boys came up with the first pair of tusks, and as much fat and meat as they could carry. As our two were also ready, we soon had the meat tied up, and, after telling off" two boys to carry each of the big tusks by turns, once more turned our faces homewards, strik- ing a bee-line straight across country. On our way we came across a great deal of game, including several rhinoceroses, both of the black and white species, two large herds of buffalo, and many zebras, impalas, wild pigs, etc.; we saw, however, no fresh elephant spoor. At length, just at sundown, we reached the large drinking-place near our skerm, and while walking along the path leading from it to our camp, met two black rhinoceroses, which, however, luckily for them- selves I think (for I had my old elephant gun in my ^ These tusks afterwards lost lo lbs. cacli in weight in dryiiiij out. VI START FOR THE WAGGONS 97 hands), did not think proper to molest us, but after eyeing us intently for a ftw seconds, and giving vent to a few snorts, wheeled round, and took themselves off at a quick trot. In a few minutes I once more reached my headquarters, and as the two boys I had left behind had cooked me a very nice stew of elephant's heart and rice, and had a kettle of tea ready, it need scarcely be added that it was not long before I was enjoying a delicious meal, bringing an appetite to bear upon it that none but a hunter can appreciate. The boys being too much knocked up with the last two days' work to care to dance, though their appetites were unimpaired, I was soon fast asleep beneath my kaross, dreaming of sport, such as one never meets with save in the happy hunting-grounds of the imagination. For another fortnight, I remained in the same skerm or camp already described, hunting through the surrounding country in every direction with good success, and bagging three more fine bull elephants and five cows, two of the latter carrying remarkably fine tusks. As I then had more ivory than my eleven Kafirs could carry at once, I determined to get it to the waggons at Linquasi as quickly as possible, and so set to work to transport it thither by instalments. Towards the end of the month I got the whole lot as far as Dett, a long open valley in the midst of thick goussy forests, with a spongy, marshy bottom, which is distant from two to three days' walk from Linquasi. Here I met my Hottentot waggon-driver John, and two Kafirs, who were on their way from our headquarters with powder and lead to W.,^ my partner, of whom I had heard nothing for more than two months. They told me ^ George Wood. H 98 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. that W.'s skerm was two days' hard walk from here, in the hills, and a little to the west of where I had been hunting. On hearing this news I at once gave up all idea of returning to the waggons, and so, after burying the ivory in a large hole dug in the soft sand to a depth which I thought would impede any hyasnas from smelling it out, and, by scratching up the sand, exposing it to view, I started back for the hills with my guides. On the morning of the third day, we reached W.'s skerm, perched like a crow's nest on the top of a hill, past the foot of which ran a broad sand river, with a thin stream of water meandering down it like a silver wire. The day after leaving Dett, we met a large party of Matabele on their way from their own country, near the sources of the Gwai, to collect salt in a pan amongst the hills ; they all carried war shields, and woe betide any unfortunate Amachankas they might happen to come across ; if they escaped being murdered, they would be infallibly stripped of all their possessions by these unscrupulous marauders. Some of these men knew me, and were very civil. After half an hour's conversation, I continued my journey, several of them following me in the hope that before long I might shoot them some large animal ; and, as luck would have it, before we had proceeded a mile we came upon a black rhinoceros lying asleep, which John and I disposed of without much trouble. 1 only took the meat from the ribs for myself, leaving the remainder of the carcase for the Matabele, who, I think I may safely say, did not leave much of it for the vultures and hyasnas. On my arrival at the skerm, I found that W. was away hunting, but late in the evening he returned, and was very much surprised to find me awaiting VI A CHAT BY THE CAMP FIRE 99 him. We had both been lucky since our last meeting, and, over a substantial meal of rhinoceros liver and rice and a kettle of coffee, we sat till far into the night recounting to one another our various hunting experiences during the past two months. W.'s plan of procedure was a little different from mine ; he had given ten of his Kafirs guns, and they all hunted with him, firing away at the elephants indiscriminately. As a natural consequence, after every successful hunt there were several claimants for some of the elephants shot, and it was often difficult to decide who amongst them had really given the disputed animal the first bullet. Three of my Kafirs also carried guns, but I usually sent them out hunting alone ; not that I cared much about their disputing among themselves, but I very much object to any of my servants claiming an elephant which I think I have killed myself. W., however, having probably shot more elephants than any Englishman living, was past this vanity, and only thought of how to secure the greatest quantity of ivory. The day following my arrival, we left the skerm, and went away to the north-west, leaving two Kafirs behind to look after the ivory and baggage. We remained away five days, but only shot two elephant cows. The hills here (close to the Zambesi) were higher and more rugged and precipitous than those 1 had been hunting amongst farther to the eastward, and in many of the deep narrow ravines the scenery was most striking. Though the sides of these kloofs in some cases were almost perpendicular, several trees had nevertheless found a hold for their roots in the interstices of the rocks, and amongst them the fantastic-shaped baobabs, with their long leafless limbs, looked particularly strange. loo A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. At first sight, many of these cliffs appeared in- accessible to any animal but a baboon ; but we found that the elephants had made regular paths up and down many of them, which paths zigzagged backwards and forwards like a road down a Swiss mountain, and in some places great blocks of stone had been forced aside by the efforts of these bulky engineers, in order to render their footing the more secure. That elephants can climb up and down very steep places is, however, well known ; but it may be new to some readers to hear that rhinoceroses are almost equally active. I have seen many of the black and one of the white species scramble with marvellous activity and sureness of foot up and down the most steep and stony hills that it is possible to imagine. One evening, as W. and I were sitting on the summit of one of these steep hills, our attention was directed by the Kafirs to a grey shapeless mass lying amongst some large blocks of stone, near the top of a high ridge just opposite to us. Opinions differed as to whether it was an old buffalo bull, a rhinoceros, or a rock ; but, as we watched, the last idea was quickly dispelled, for the hitherto motionless mass raised itself slowly, and, gaining a standing position, displayed to our view the well-known contour of a black rhinoceros. Being out of meat, this was just the thing we were looking for ; so we at once made preparations to circumvent him. But, although the wind was favourable, the hill-side was bare and stony, and, despite our utmost pains to tread softly, he heard us coming, and made off before we were well within range. We both fired at once, W.'s six-to- the-pound bullet catching the animal low down in the fore-leg, and mine hitting him in the ribs, but VI RHINOCEROS SHOT loi too far back. At first he kept along the ridge, and W.'s ball having slightly crippled him, we managed to get right above him with our second guns ; on seeing which he turned, and went at a gallop down the almost precipitous face of the hill, picking his steps amongst the great blocks of stone in an extra- ordinary manner. Before he had got far, however, W. fired from above, when, the animal's fore-legs seeming to give way, he pitched on his head, and turned the fairest and most astonishing somersault I ever saw. He was up again in a second, but I was close behind, and when on reaching the level ground he turned along the face of the hill and. offered me a good chance, I fired at his shoulder, making a bad but very lucky shot, as I broke his neck, and of course killed him on the spot. We found that the bullet W. had fired from above had caught him in the neck, about a foot behind the head ; it must have just grazed the vertebral column, paralysing the animal for an instant, which accounted for the wonderful manner in which he had rolled head over heels down the hill. On reaching W.'s skerm once more, we held a council of war, and determined that, as the elephants seemed to have left this part of the country, and neither of us had been to the waggons to see how our property was being looked after for more than two months, we ough;: to go thither at once. Accord- ingly, the next morning we started eastwards, and late in the afternoon reached the skerm which had been my headquarters during the best part of August, and which we had no difficulty in finding, as it was situated at the foot of a peculiarly -shaped hill. Strange, we had been hunting within a day's journey of one another for so long, and yet neither of us had I02 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. had any idea of the other's whereabouts. As soon as we reached the skerm, I took my two gun-carriers and a couple more boys with axes, and went to chop out a bees' nest I knew of close by. It proved to be a well-stocked one, and we got from it, I should think, from 15 to 20 lbs. of splendid honey. Whilst we were engaged chopping, one of my Kafirs who had wandered some distance away, came running up, saying there was a white rhinoceros lying asleep not a hundred yards off. Thinking the noise must have already disturbed it, I did not consider it worth while to go and see ; but, when we had taken all the honey, I thought I would just walk to where it had been, and was very much surprised to find the confiding beast still lying fast asleep. It must have been deaf, for we had been making a tremendous noise and chatter for the last half-hour, certainly not more than 150 yards away from it. I walked close up to it and whistled, when the sleepy animal stood up, and 1 shot it behind the shoulder ; it ran about 100 yards and then stopped, and a second bullet in the shoulder killed it. It was a cow, and very fat ; so, leaving some Kafirs to cut her up, I returned straight to the skerm with the honey, and sent more boys to help carry the meat. By this time it was quite dark, and W. was waiting for me to begin supper. Whilst chopping out the honey I had heard two shots, and found on inquiry that they had been fired by my comrade, who had killed a black rhinoceros down near the elephants' drinking-place. That night, two lions drank at the small hole of water close to our skerm, and then walked up a path just behind us, roaring terrifically the while. They were so near, that some of the Kafirs got uneasy, and threw stumps of fire- VI FOLLOWING ELEPHANTS 103 wood and shouted at them. On going down to the large pools of water the next mornhig, we found that no elephants had drunk there duruig the night ; but, in order to give them another chance, instead of pushing on at once with the ivory to the waggons, we made a round amongst the hills to the north-west, returning to our skerm again at nightfiill. As soon as the day dawned, we sent a couple of Kafirs down to the water to see if any elephants had been there, and on their return in a quarter of an hour with the joyful tidings that a fine troop of bulls had drunk during the night, we at once started in pursuit. We found they had come down from the right-hand side, and returned on their own spoor, feeding along nicely as they went, so that we were in great hopes of over- taking them without much difficulty. Our confidence, however, we soon found was misplaced, for after a time they had ceased to feed, and, turning back towards the N.E., had taken to a path, along which they had walked in single file and at a quick pace, as if making for some stronghold in the hills. Hour after hour we trudged on, over rugged stony hills, and across open grassy valleys, scattered over which grew clumps of the soft-leaved machabel trees, or rather bushes ; but, though the leaves and bark of this tree form a favourite food of elephants, those we were pursuing had turned neither to the right nor the left to pluck i single frond. After mid-day, the aspect of the country changed, and we entered upon a series of ravines covered with dense, scrubby bush. Unfortunately the grass had here been burnt off, but for which circumstance the elephants, I feel sure, would have halted for their mid-day sleep. In one of these thickets we ran on to three black rhinoceroses [R. bicornis) lying asleep. I04 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. When we were abreast of them they got our whid, and, jumping up, rushed close past the head of our line, snorting vigorously. It was a family party, consisting of a bull, a cow, and a full-grown calf ; they passed so near us that I threw at them the thick stick which I used for a ramrod, and overshot the mark, it falling beyond them. Shortly after this incident, we lost the spoor in some very hard, stony ground, and had some trouble in recovering it, as the Kafirs, being exhausted with the intense heat, and thinking we should not catch the elephants, had lost heart and would not exert themselves, hoping that we would give up the pursuit. By dint of a little care and perseverance, however, we succeeded, and after a time again entered upon a more open country. To cut a long story short, I suppose it must have been about two hours before sundown when we came to a large tree, from which the elephants had only just moved on. At first we thought they must have got our wind and run, but on examination we found they had only walked quietly on. We put down the water calabashes and axes, and the Kafirs took off their raw-hide sandals, and then we again, quickly but cautiously, followed on the spoor. It was perhaps five minutes later when we at last sighted them, seven in number, and all large, full-grown bulls. W. and I walked up to within thirty yards or so, and fired almost simultaneously ; he at one standing broadside, and I at another facing me. Our Hottentot boy also fired, and, as the animals turned, a volley was given them by our Kafirs, about ten of whom carried guns. Not an elephant, however, seemed any the worse, and they went away at a great pace. Judging from the lie of the land ahead that they would turn to the VI A HEAVY CHARGE 105 right, I made a cut with my two gun-bearers, whilst W, kept in their wake. Fortune favoured me, for they turned just as I had expected, and I got a splendid broadside shot as they passed along the farther side of a little gully not forty yards off. The Kafir having, as he ran, reloaded the gun which I had already discharged and on which I placed most dependence, I fired with it at the foremost elephant, an enormous animal with long white tusks, when he was exactly opposite to me. My boy had put in the powder with his hand, and must have overloaded it, for the recoil knocked me down, and the gun itself flew out of my hands. Owing to this, I lost a little time ; for when I got hold of my second gun the elephants had turned back again (excepting the one just hit) towards W, and the Kafirs. However, I gave another a bullet behind the big ribs as he was running obliquely away from me. The first, which I had hit right in the middle of the shoulder, was now walking very slowly up a steep hill, looking as though he were going to fall every instant ; but, nevertheless (as until an elephant is actually dead, there is no knowing how far he may go), I determined to finish him before returning to the others. On reaching the top of the hill, and hearing me coming on not a dozen yards behind him, the huge beast wheeled round, and, raising his gigantic ears, looked ruefully towards me. Poor beast, he was doubtless too far gone to charge, and, on receiving another ball in the chest, he stepped slowly backwards, and then sinking on to his haunches, threw his trunk high into the air and rolled over on his side, dead. During this time, the remainder of the elephants, harried and bewildered by the continuous firing of W. and our little army of native hunters, had come io6 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. round in a circle, and I saw the four that still remained (for, besides the one I had killed, two more were down) coming along in single file, at the long, quick half run, half walk, into which these animals settle after their first rush, I at once ran obliquely towards them ; but, before I could get near, one more first lagged behind, and then fell heavily to the ground, so that there were but three remaining, W., being blown, had been left behind ; but most of the Kafirs were still to the fore, firing away as fast as they could load, from both sides. It was astonishing what bad shooting they made ; their bullets kept continually striking up the ground all round the elephants, sometimes in front of their trunks, sometimes behind them, and ever and anon one would come whistling high overhead. It was in vain that I shouted to them to leave off firing and let me shoot ; their blood was up, and blaze away they would. Just as I was getting well up alongside, the elephants crossed a little gully, and entered a small patch of scrubby bush, on the slope of the hill beyond, in the shelter of which they at once stopped and faced about, giving me a splendid chance. I had just emptied both my guns, hitting one animal full in the chest, and another, that was standing broadside to me, in the shoulder, when loud lamentations and cries of " Mai-ai ! " " Mai mamo ! " burst from my Kafir followers close behind. At the same time my two gun-carriers, throwing down their guns, ran backwards, clapping their hands, and shouting like the rest. Turning hastily round, I saw a Kafir stretched upon the earth, his companions sitting round him, wailing and clapping their hands, and at once comprehended what had occurred. The poor fellow VI DEATH OF MENDOSE 107 who lay upon the ground had fired at the elephants, from about thirty yards behind myself, and then run up an ant-hill, just as another Kafir, who preferred to keep at a safer distance, discharged a random shot, which struck poor Mendose just between the shoulder-blades, the bullet coming out on the right breast. I ran up at once to see what could be done, but all human aid was vain — the poor fellow was dead. At this moment two more shots fell close behind, and a minute or two afterwards W. and our Hottentot boy John came up. One of the three elephants had fallen after my last shot, close at hand, and a second, sorely wounded, had walked back right on to W. and John, who were following on the spoor ; and the two shots I had just heard had sealed his fate. The third, however, and only surviving one out of the original seven, had made good his escape during the confusion, which he never would have done had it not been for the untimely death of Mendose. The sun was now close down upon the western sky-line, and little time was to be lost. The Kafirs still continued to shout and cry, seeming utterly paralysed, and I began to think that they were possessed of more sympathetic feelings than I had ever given them credit for. However, on being asked v/hether they wished to leave the body for the hyasnas, they roused themselves. As luck would have it, on the side of the very ant-hill on which the poor fellow had met his death was a large deep hole, excavated probably by an ant-eater, but now un- tenanted. Into this rude grave, with a Kafir needle to pick the thorns out of his feet, and his assegais with which to defend himself on his journey to the next world, we put the body, and then firmly blocked io8 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. up the entrance with large stones, to keep the prowl- ing hyaenas from exhuming it. Poor Mendose ! he was an obedient, willing servant, and by far the best shot of all our native hunters. The first thing to be done now was to cut some meat from one of the elephants, and then get down to a pool of water which we had passed during the hunt, and make a " skerm " for the night. On reaching the nearest carcase, which proved to be in fair condition, I was much surprised to see my Kafirs throw aside every semblance of grief, and fight and quarrel over pieces of fat and other tit-bits in their usual manner. Even the fellow who had had the misfortune to shoot his comrade, though he kept asserting that " his heart was dead," was quite as eager as the rest. In the evening they laughed and chatted and sang as usual, ate most hearty suppers, and indeed seemed as if all memory of the tragedy which had occurred but a few hours before, and which at the time had seemed to affect them so deeply, had passed from their minds. Thus ended the best day's hunting, as regards weight of ivory, at which I had ever assisted. The next day we set the Kafirs to work with three American axes, and before nightfall the twelve tusks (not one of which was broken) were lying side by side, forming one of the finest trophies a sportsman's heart could desire to look upon. The largest pair of tusks weighed 57 lbs. apiece, and the smallest 29 lbs. and 31 lbs. respectively — a very fair lot of bull ivory. A few days later, at the valley of Dett, we had a day's elephant-shooting of a very different character. We had arrived there the evening before, and had found the ivory I had left there untouched by human VI DENSE THORN JUNGLES -109 hands, though the hyasnas, guided by the scent, and despite the depth at which it was buried, had scratched away the sand, and exposed the uppermost tusks to view. Dett, as I have said before, is a long valley, running into one of the tributaries of the river Gwai, with a swampy bottom and large beds of reeds, amongst which appear here and there a few open water holes. Near its upper end, and two or three miles above the first of these pools, it is bounded on one side by dense jungles of wait-a-bit thorn, which extend for many miles in a westerly direction. These great thorn jungles are called " sinangas " by the Kafirs, and it is deemed dangerous work following elephants into their dark recesses, as the beasts seem to coi:^ider them their own particular domain, and look upon any intrusion as a personal insult. What constitutes the danger is this : the bush is so dense and thorny that, except where elephants, buffaloes, or rhinoceroses have opened up paths, through which they crash without difficulty, it is in many parts quite impenetrable, and thus one is liable, when charged, to get stuck fast, and caught like a fly in a spider's web. The uniform sombre grey of these leafless thorn jungles (for not until the rains fall do the leaves sprout) assimilates, too, so well with the dull leaden colour of an elephant's skin, that, though such a large beast, he is invisible except at very close quarters; and often, when following on spoor in such a locality, the first warning I have received of the proximity of a herd of these animals standing asleep has been the rumbling of their intestines, they themselves being completely invisible within a few yards. Elephants, as a rule, are more vicious in these sinangas than elsewhere, and there are very few no A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. native hunters who will follow spoor far within them. Our camp — where I had buried the ivory — was situated at some considerable distance down the valley, and about eight or ten miles from the sinangas I have just mentioned. On the night we reached Dett, whilst sleeping there, we heard ele- phants drinking at a water hole not far up the valley, and at the first dawn of day, after having a cup of hot coffee, we went and took up the spoor. The elephants, a fine troop of eight or ten bulls, had been feeding quietly along all night, through the large open grassy forests which border Dett, always heading, however, towards the sinangas, where we guessed they were bent upon standing during the heat of the day. It was, however, not until a^i hour or so past mid-day (as they had pursued a circuitous course backwards and forwards) that our conjectures were confirmed, and we entered the thick bush. About an hour later, we came up with them, standing some fifty yards away, on our right, under a clump of camel-thorn trees, and in a rather open place compared with the general density of the surrounding jungle. Besides the small troop of bulls we had followed, and which were nearest to us, there was a very large herd of cows standing just beyond, which, as we had not crossed their spoor, had probably drunk at Sikumi — a water hole not many miles distant — and come to this rendezvous from the other side. Taking a hasty gulp of water, we at once walked towards them. As we advanced, the slight rustling of the bushes must have attracted the attention of one of the bulls, for he raised his trunk high in the air, and made a few steps forward. " I'll take him. VI PANIC-STRICKEN ELEPHANTS iii and do you fire at the one with the long white tusks on the left," whispered W. " Right you are ! " was the reply, and the next moment we fired. I just had time to see my elephant fall on his knees, when he was hidden by the troop of cows that, awakened from their sleep by the shots, and not knowing exactly where the danger lay, came rushing towards us in a mass, one or two of them trumpeting, and others making a sort of rumbling noise. Seizing our second guns and shouting lustily, we again pulled trigger. Our Hottentot boy John, and five of our Kafirs, who still carried guns, also fired ; on which the herd turned and went off at right angles, enveloped in a cloud of dust. My gun had only snapped the cap, but my Kafir, to whom I threw it back, thinking in the noise and hurry that it was discharged, reloaded it on the top of the old charge — a fact which I only found out, to my sorrow, later on. The cloud of sand and dust raised by the panic-stricken elephants was at first so thick that we could distinguish nothing ; but, running behind them, I soon made out the bull I had wounded, which I recognised by the length and shape of his tusks. He was evidently hard hit, and, being unable to keep up with the herd, he turned out, and went off alone ; but he was joined almost immediately by four old cows, all with small, insig- nificant tusks, and, instead of running away, they walked along quite slowly, first in front of and then behind him, as if to encourage him. Seeing how severely he was wounded, I at once went after him, accompanied only by my two gun-carriers, Nuta and Balamoya, W. and the rest of the Kafirs going on after the troop. My bull was going so slowly that I had no difficulty in threading my way through the 112 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. bushes and getting in front of him, which I did in order to get a broadside shot as he passed me. One of the four cows that still accompanied him walked along, carrying her head high and her tail straight in the air, and kept constantly turning from side to side. " That cow will bother us ; shoot her," said Nuta, and I wish I had taken his advice ; but her tusks were so small, and the bull seemed so very far gone, that I thought it would be a waste of ammunition. I therefore waited till he was a little in front of where I stood, and then gave him a bullet at very close quarters, just behind the shoulder, and, as I thought, exactly in the right place ; but he nevertheless continued his walk as if he had not felt it. Reloading the same gun, 1 ran behind him, holding it before me in both hands, ready to raise at a moment's notice, and, the four cows being some twenty yards in advance, I shouted, hoping he would turn. The sound of my voice had the desired effect ; for he at once raised his ears and swung himself round, or rather was in the act of doing so, for immediately his ears went up my gun was at my shoulder, and as soon as he presented his broadside I fired, on which he turned again, and went crashing through the bushes at a trot. I thought that it was a last spasmodic rush, and that he would fldl before going very far ; so, giving the gun back to Nuta to reload, I was running after him, with my eyes fixed on the quivering bushes as they closed behind him, when suddenly the trunk of another elephant was whirled round, almost literally above my head, and a short, sharp scream of rage thrilled through me, making the blood tingle down to the very tips of my fingers. It was one of the wretched old cows, that had thus lain in wait for me behind a dense patch of bush. VI A NARROW ESCAPE 113 Even had my gun been in my hands, I should scarcely have had time to fire, so close was she upon me ; but, as it was, both my Kafirs were some fifteen yards behind, and the only thing I could do was to run. How I got away I scarcely know. I bounded over and through thorn bushes which, in cold blood, I should have judged impenetrable ; but I was urged on by the short piercing screams which, repeated in quick succession, seemed to make the whole air vibrate, and by the fear of finding myself encircled by the trunk or transfixed by the tusk of the enraged animal. After a few seconds (for I don't think she pursued me a hundred yards, though it seemed an age), the screaming ceased. During the chase, the elephant was so close behind me, that looking over my shoulder was impossible, and all that I did was to dash forward, springing from side to side so as to hinder her from getting hold of me, and it was only when the trumpeting suddenly stopped that I knew I was out of her reach. I was barelegged — as I always am when hunting on foot — and mv only garment before the beast charged was a flannel shirt ; but I now stood almost in puris naturalihus^ for my hat, the leather belt that I wore round my waist, and about three parts of my shirt, had been torn off by the bushes, and I doubt if there was a square inch of skin left uninjured anywhere on the front of my body ! After the cow left me I ran on about fifty yards (for I thought that if she heard my voice close at hand she might come on again), and then shouted out the names of my two gun-carriers, who at once answered and soon came running up, both with their guns, which I was afraid they had thrown away. " Amehlo 'mahlope, soree ! " said they — literally, I 114 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. "White eyes, sir!" — a Kafir idiom for "What a narrow escape ! " I told them to take up my spoor, so that I might get my hat and then follow up the bull, from which I had been driven away, as I felt sure he had not gone very far after receiving the last shot. Just as we were starting Nuta called out, " Look at the dust ; there they go ! " and on doing so, I saw a cloud of dust rising above the bush some two hundred yards away to our right, towards which, thinking it was raised by the four cows, and that the bull might still be with them, we at once ran. On cutting the spoor, however, a glance showed us that the cows were alone — the bull, I now felt sure, having remained behind, too badly wounded to keep up with them any longer. The cows were going at a run, and, being probably satisfied with driving me away, had left their wounded lord to his fate. Being pretty well fagged with the exertion to which the old cow had put me, and feeling confident that the wounded bull was not very far from where I had last seen him, I sat down at the foot of a camel-thorn tree, whilst one of my boys climbed up to see if he could see him standing anywhere in the surrounding bush. In about ten minutes he came down, not having been able to make out anything, and we started back, intending first of all to recover my hat — of which I already felt the need, the sun being intensely powerful — and then to take up the spoor of the wounded elephant. We had gone perhaps a hundred yards, when our attention was arrested by some one shouting a short distance ahead. We stopped to listen. Shortly after the shouts were repeated, this time quite close. At the same moment I saw the tops of some bushes in front shaking violently, and then made out the outline of an VI MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES 115 elephant's back and head coming towards us. I at once understood that the shouting came from one of our Kafirs, who was trying to turn the elephant and drive him back towards W. or one of our hunters who carried a gun. Catching up a handful of sand, and throwing it into the air, to see how the wind was, I placed myself in such a position that the elephant, if he held the same course, would have to pass close by me above the wind, thereby offering me a splendid broadside shot. But fhomme propose^ et Dieu dispose ; for when he was only about thirty yards off, coming steadily along at a quick walk, and just as I saw that he was followed by four quite small calves, the Kafir who was running him about, and who knew nothing of my position, again shouted a little to my right, on which he turned from his course and came straight down towards where we stood. Seeing this, I shouted as loud as I could, hoping he would turn again and still offer me a broadside shot ; but I suppose he was tired of being trotted about in the hot sun, and thought it time to expostulate ; for, instead of swerving, he raised his head, spread his huge ears, and came on straight towards us. Feeling sure that he would charge directly he made us out, I just waited till his head came through a bush close in front, and then fired into his chest, bringing him to his knees. He was up again in an instant, anci crashed away through the bushes to my left, whilst the four calves came straight on, and ran close past us on my right. Seizing my second gun from the hands of Balamoya — for the first time since it had snapped the cap at the commencement of the hunt — I threaded my way through the jungle so as to intercept him ; and as he was badly wounded and had settled into a slow walk, I easily succeeded, and running a little ahead, ii6 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. let him pass me broadside on within thirty yards. Taking a good sight for the middle of his shoulder, I pulled the trigger. This time the gun went off — it was a four-bore elephant gun, loaded twice over, and the powder thrown in each time by a Kafir with his hands — and I went off too ! I was lifted clean from the ground, and turning round in the air, fell with my face in the sand, whilst the gun was carried yards away over my shoulder. At first I was almost stunned with the shock, and I soon found that I could not lift my right arm. Besides this, I was covered with blood, which spurted from a deep wound under the right cheek-bone, caused by the stock of the gun as it flew upwards from the violence of the recoil. The stock itself — though it had been bound round, as are all elephant guns, with the inside skin of an elephant's ear put on green, which when dry holds it as firmly as iron — was shattered to pieces, and the only wonder was that the barrel did not burst. Whether the two bullets hit the elephant or not I cannot say ; but I think they must have done so, for he only went a few yards after I fired, and then stood still, raising his trunk every now and then, and dashing water tinged with blood over his chest. I went cautiously up to within forty yards or so of him, and sat down. Though I could not hold my arm out, I could raise my forearm so as to get hold of the trigger ; but the shock had so told on me, that I found I could not keep the sight within a yard of the right place. The elephant remained perfectly still ; so I got Nuta to work my arm about gently, in order to restore its power, and hoped that in the meantime the Kafir, whose shouting had originally brought the elephant to me, would come up and be able to go and fetch W. No doubt, if I VI "THIS DAY YOU'RE BEWITCHED" 117 had shouted he would have come at once, for he could not have been very tar off ; but had I done so, the elephant might either have charged or else continued his flight, neither of which alternatives did I desire. After a short time, seeing no chance of aid arriving, and my nerves having got a little steadier, I took my favourite gun from Nuta, and, resting my elbow on my knee, took a quiet pot shot. I was, however, still very unsteady even in this position, but I do not think the bullet could have struck very far from the right place. The elephant on receiving the shot made a rush forwards, crashing through the bushes at a quick walk, so that we had to run at a hard trot to keep him in sight. He now seemed very vicious, for, hearing a dry branch snap, he turned and ran towards us, and then stood with his ears up, feeling about in all directions with his trunk to try and get our wind. Nuta, who up to this day had always been a most staunch and plucky gun-bearer, now seemed seized with a panic, and refused to bring me the gun any more, calling out, " Leave the elephant, sir ; this day you're bewitched, and will surely be killed." How- ever, as the elephant was evidently very severely wounded, I had no idea of giving over the chase as long as I could keep up, and, after bestowing a few Anglo-Saxon idioms upon Nuta, I again ran on. The bush now became very thick, and, as the elephant was going straight away, I could not get a chance of a shot. About a mile farther on, however, we came to one of those large open turf flats which occur here and there in the midst of the sinangas. It was quite a mile square, and perfectly bare, with the exception of a few large camel-thorn trees, which were scattered about in clumps. On reaching this opening, the elephant, instead of turning back into ii8 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. the bush, as I should have expected, kept his course, making straight for the firther side, and going at that long, swinging walk, to keep up with which a man on foot must run at a fair pace. I had now been a long time bare-headed, exposed to the heat of the fierce tropical sun, and the kick I had received from the gun had so much shaken me, that I felt dead beat, and could scarcely drag one leg after the other. I saw that I should never be able to run up to within shot of the elephant, which was now about 150 yards ahead ; so, taking the gun from Nuta, I told him to try and run right round him, and by shouting turn him back towards me. Relieved of the weight of the gun, and being a splendid runner, he soon accomplished this, and standing behind the stem of a camel-thorn tree a long way in advance, halloed loudly. Accordingly, I had the satisfaction of seeing the elephant stop, raise his ears, look steadily in the direction of the noise, anci then wheel round, and come walking straight back towards the jungle he had just left, taking a line which would bring him past me, at a distance of about fifty or sixty yards. I stood perfectly still, with Balamoya kneeling close behind me ; for, though elephants can see very well in the open, I have always found that if they do not get your wind, and you remain motionless, they seem to take you for a tree or a stump. To this I now trusted, and as the elephant came on I had full leisure to examine him. The ground between us was as bare as a board, except that it was covered with coarse grass about a foot high, and he looked truly a gigantic and formidable beast ; his tusks were small for his size, one of them being broken at the point, and I do not think they could have weighed much over 30 lbs. apiece. He came steadily on, VI "STAND STILL!" ii swinging his trunk backwards and forwards, until he was about seventy yards from where I stood, when suddenly I was dismayed to see his trunk sharply raised, as if to catch a stray whiff of wind, and the next instant he stopped and faced hill towards us, with his head raised, and his enormous ' ears spread like two sails. He took a few steps towards us, raising his feet very slowly, and bringing them down as if afraid of treading on a thorn. It was an anxious moment ; he was evidently very suspicious, but did not know what to make of us, and had we remained motionless I believe he would still have turned and walked on again. " Stand still ! " I whispered between my teeth to Balamoya ; but the sight of the advancing monster was too much for him — he jumped up and bolted. The instant he moved, on came the elephant, without trumpeting, and with his trunk straight down. Though very shaky just before, the imminence of the danger braced up my nerves, and I think I never held a gun steadier than upon this occasion. As he was coming direct at me, and as he did not raise his trunk, his chest was quite covered ; there was there- fore nothing left but to fire at his head. He came on at an astonishing pace, and I heard only the " whish, whish" of the grass as his great feet swept through it. He was perhaps twenty yards off when I pulled the trigger. I aimed a little above the root of the trunk and just between the eyes, and directly I had fired I ran out sideways as fast as I could, though I had not much running left in me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him standing with his ears still up and his head slightly turned, looking towards me ; the blood was pouring down his trunk from a wound exactlv where I had aimed, and, as it 120 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. was inflicted by a four-ounce ball, backed by a heavy charge of powder, I cannot understand why it did not penetrate to his brain ; it had half-stunned him, how- ever, and saved my life, for, had he come on again, it would have been utterly impossible for me, fatigued as I was, to have avoided him. After standing still for a short time, swaying himselt gently from side to side, he again turned and took across the flat. Nuta, seeing what had happened, instead of trying to turn him again, cleared out of his road, and, making a large circle, came back to me. Perhaps it was as well he did so. I now gave up the pursuit, for I was completely fagged out, and laid myself down in the shade of the nearest camel-thoni tree, and after an hour's rest, as the sun was getting low, I started back. At length I rejoined W. and all the Kafirs, at the spot where we had put down the calabashes and axes on first sighting the elephants. Every one looked very glum, and I soon . found that W. had been equally unfortunate with myself, so that between the lot of us we had not bagged one single elephant. I felt sure, however, that the bull I had first wounded was not very far from where I had last seen him, and so, after drinking a little water, of which I was much in need, we all went to try and ferret him out. After a good deal of trouble we hit ofl^ my spoor, and at last found my hat stuck in a thick thorn bush, which was further decked with my leather belt and the greater portion of my shirt. We found from the spoor, that the cow had pursued me right up to this bush, and then turned back, and I cannot help thinking that it was to her having smelt the hat that I owed my escape. We now looked for the bull's spoor, and soon found it besprinkled with VI A FRUITLESS SEARCH 121 blood ; but after following it for a very short distance, it became obliterated by the tracks of a large part of the herd, which had turned back and crossed over it during the hunt. All our efforts to get it away were fruitless, and at last, when the sun went down, we were obliged to give it up and make for the nearest water hole, which we reached after about an hour and a half's walk in the dark. A herd of buffaloes had been there just before us, and trampled and wallowed in the shallow pool, till they had rendered the water quite undrinkable to any one but a thirsty hunter. Here we slept. We were with- out food or blankets, though for my part I did not think this much of a hardship, as I was too fatigued to feel hungry, and the nights were getting warm. The cut on my cheek was about two inches long, and deep, extending up under the cheek bone. Having neither needles nor thread to sew it up, and it being in an impossible place to bandage, there was nothing for it but to leave it to nature. Luckily, being in perfect health, it healed up straight away by first intention, in spite of being left exposed to the sun ; and though I still bear a scar, which serves as a souvenir of the most unfortunate and eventful day's elephant-shooting in which I ever took part, I was able to shoot again in about ten days' time. My shoulder was much bruised, and I must have ruptured some of the fibres of the muscles, for it was more than three months before I could hold my arm straight out at right angles to my body, though I could shoot with it perfectly well all the time. Want of food forced us to abandon the search for the wounded elephant — which in such bush, and without spoor, would have been rather like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay — so we made our 122 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. vi way next day down the valley to our camp. In the afternoon, W. went out and shot a black rhinoceros, whilst I occupied myself in picking out the little black ends of the wait-a-bit thorns which were pretty evenly distributed over my person. The next day, we again made a start for Linquasi, and, whilst crossing a large open glade, came across a herd of buffaloes, two of which W. shot. One of these was a very tat cow, and the meat delicious, being tender and juicy, and fully equal to the best beef. That evening we slept at Chuma-Malisse. On the following morning, about two hours after leaving camp, and whilst passing through a belt of young forest, we had the luck to run right into a herd of elephant cows. It was a strong temptation to shoot, but I judged it better not to reopen the wound on my cheek, and so only ran with W., and helped to load and hand him the guns. He killed three, and our Hottentot boy also bagged one, besides a small thing that one of the Kafirs knocked over, which ought never to have been shot, and which I do not count. On sighting these elephants, we had put down the water calabashes, and laid a large thin sheet of meat, about a yard square, cut from the ribs of one of the buffaloes, on a patch of grass, and in their flight they ran right over these things, breaking two calabashes, whilst one of them trod fair in the centre of the piece of buffalo meat, which was only about half an inch thick, and stamped a hole through it just the size of her foot. That same day we chopped out all the tusks, and the next evening reached Linquasi, where we found our bullocks, horses, dogs, and indeed everything else at the waggons, safe and in good order. PLATE V 1. Waterbuck S (Cobus Ellipsiprymnus). Shot in the Mashuna country, Sept. 17, 1880. Length of horns, z feet 7 inches. 2. PooKOO Antelope S (Cobus Vardoni). Shot on the Chobe river, July 7, 1874. Length of horns, i foot 4 inches. 3. PooKoo Antelope ^ (Cobus Vardoni). Shot on the Chobe river, Aug. 12, 1874. Length of horns, i foot 4 inches. 4. Reedbuck S (Cervicapra Arundinacea). Shot on the river Tati, Dec. 2, 1880. Length of horns, i foot 2 inches. 5. Reedbuck S (Cervicapra Arundinacea). Shot on the river Chobe, Nov. i, 1879. Length of horns, i foot ih inch. 6. Lechwe Antelope S (Cobus Lechc). Shot in the swamps of the Lukanga river, about 14° south latitude. Jan. 7, 1878. Length of horns, 2 feet i inch. 7. Lechwe Antelope S (Cobus Lechc). Shot on the river Chobe, July 12, 1879. Length of horns, 2 feet 3 inches. m r;7ni' ^X^" I- T 'mhir ',im To face page 122. CHAPTER VII Bad Weather — Slow Travelling — Mr. and Lieut. Ganlen — Daka — Leave the Waggons — Elephant Hunt ; first of Season — A Bath of Blood — First Glimpse of Falls — Difficult Country — Magnificent Panorama — Grandeur of Victoria Falls of Zambesi — Herd of Buffalo — Banks of Zambesi — Double Lunar Rainbow — Pitfalls tor Game. Until the latter end of November we continued hunting with varying success, sometimes in the neighbourhood of the Gwai river, at others in the dense wait-a-bit thorn jungles to the north and west of Linquasi, and by that time the rainy season having tairly set in, we trekked back again to Gubulawayo, carrying with us nearly 5000 lbs. weight of very fine ivory. During the summer months we spent the greater part of the time trekking about the country trading, and made an excursion across the high and open downs lying to the south-east of the Matabele country, to the junction of the Ingesi and Lunti rivers, where we found some hippopotami, but did not shoot any, though we had very good sport amongst the herds of blue wildebeests, zebras, and roan antelopes, which frequented the flats. In March 1874 we trekked down to Tati in company with Messrs. P'airbairn and Dawson, two young Scotsmen, who had been trading with Lobengula, and were now on their way to Bamangwato with two fine loads of ivory. 123 124 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Our intention was to hunt during the coming winter in the country bordering on the Chobe and Zambesi rivers, making a point of visiting the Victoria Falls during the season. As, during the months of January and February, torrents of rain had constantly been falling, the whole country between Gubulawayo and Tati had been converted into a marsh. Travelling by African bullock waggons is slow work at the best of times, but in order to give an idea of how slow it may become in the interior at the end of a very wet season, I will here chronicle the fact that on this journey it took us twenty-three days to reach Mengwe, which is only fifty-nine miles by road from Gubulawayo, although we worked on an average seven or eight hours every day. The waggons were continually sinking right up to the bed plank in the boggy ground, and over and over again the bullocks sank one and all up to their bellies in the mire. Whenever this happened we had to ofF-load the waggons, dig out the wheels, and place logs of wood and chopped brushwood in front of them to prevent them again sinking. At the end of a hard day's work we often found ourselves only a few hundred yards from where we had started in the morning. We broke, too, thirteen disselbooms,^alI of which had to be replaced at a considerable expense of time and labour. Still we always went forwards, and at length reached Tati. Here we met Mr. J. L. Garden and his brother Lieut. Garden, and as the objects they had in view were very much the same as our own, except that they were doing for their pleasure what George Wood and I were making a business of, we soon arranged to travel together as far as the Zambesi. 1 Disselboom is the pole of the waggon to which the two hind bullocks are yoked. VII REACH DAKA 125 Thus on a clear, bright African winter's morning, May 6, 1874, we trekked away from the Tati en route for the still distant hunting-grounds of the Zambesi. Altogether we formed quite a caravan, as our party consisted of Mr. and Lieut. Garden, and their English servant Tofts, with three waggons, and Wood and myself with two. As the road from Tati to the Zambesi is so well known to English traders and hunters, and has been so lately described by Dr. Holub, and by many other travellers before him, I will not trouble my reader with any description of it, but will conduct him at once to our camp on the head waters of the river Daka (pronounced Deykah) situated about sixty miles due south of the Victoria Falls, which we eventually reached on June 10. At Daka we were occupied for some days in constructing strong enclosures for our cattle and in laying in a supply of game meat for the use of our people and dogs, who were to remain at the waggons whilst we were away hunting. At last, on June 22, we made a start for the falls, the route to which from Daka lies through a hilly country for the first thirty miles or so, intersected by several small streams all flowing eastwards. Then come a succession of broad sand-belts thickly timbered with fine goussy trees, between which again and the river is a tract of about the roughest country in the world, cut up, as it is, into innumerable steep sides, precipi- tous ravines and gullies, which find their way down to the deep narrow chasm at the bottom of which the Zambesi runs, in a boiling, seething torrent, for many miles below the great falls. Early on the morning of the third day after leaving the waggons, and whilst skirting the edge of a sand- belt covered with rather thick bush, we heard an 126 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. elephant call close to us, — not the loud scream which these animals give when angry, but something very much resembling the cry of a baboon ; so like, indeed, that many of our Kafirs, who had not much experience of these animals, said it was one. All our Bushmen, however, declared it at once to have been an elephant, so we immediately called a halt, and, putting down all our traps, entered the bush to look for spoor. At a short distance from the edge, the jungle became ex- ceedingly dense, though not thorny, and about twenty feet high. We now advanced slowly and cautiously, and had not proceeded a hundred yards when we came upon elephant spoor. The soil was soft sand, and the footmarks had the appearance of being but that instant imprinted, and were certainly not five minutes old. We now spread out in a line, of which I was the left- hand man, and with the exception of my own especial Kafirs I was soon out of sight of the rest of the party. The wind was in our favour, so we only had to advance cautiously till we sighted the elephants, having agreed before separating that whoever saw them first should not fire, but send Kafirs to call the rest, that we might all get a chance. In this manner I was creep- ing forward, step by step, when suddenly one of my Bushmen touched me gently on the arm, with a whis- pered " — s — s," and upon turning and following the direction of his hand and eyes, I beheld the dim out- line of an elephant looming through the dense, sombre- coloured, leafless bush. He was standing broadside on, a little to my left, and after I had once seen him it was easy enough to make him out, for he was not over fifteen yards from us. I could see that he was a bull, nearly full grown in point of size, though the smallness of his tusks showed that he was still young. When I first saw him he was standing per- VII ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN BUSH 127 fectly still, but as I looked he stretched out his trunk, and breaking off the end of some small branches con- veyed them to his mouth, and commenced quietly chewing them. After peering carefully round with- out seeing any more elephants, I sent a Kafir to let my friends know. He had scarcely left me when three shots fell to my right, and before I could raise the gun to my shoulder, the huge beast before me wheeled round and was off. A hare could not have turned and got under way more expeditiously, or more silently. But though his quickness saved him from a broadside shot, I was in time to give him a four-ounce ball in the hip, and calling on my favourite Bushman, " Hartebeest," to run on the spoor, we were soon hard on his tracks. He did not run straight, but doubled about in the bush, and the soil being soft and sandy the Bushman was enabled to run at full speed, I myself, being in excellent condition, keeping close to his heels. We had run for perhaps a mile or so, when a perfect fusillade opened not far to our right, and I was thinking of leaving the spoor and cutting across in the direction of the shots, making sure my companions were engaged with the troop, when the Bushman suddenly exclaimed, " Nansia ! Nansia ! " (There he is) and I just caught a glimpse of my own elephant standing with his ears raised, listening intently. He . must have been bothered by the shots that had just been fired, and perhaps had got somebody's wind, for at this moment he turned and came crashing down in my direction. Seizing my gun, I gave him a good shot right in the shoulder as he passed, within ten yards I verily believe of where I stood ; upon which he pulled up imme- diately, and facing round in our direction, raised his trunk and ears, and gave vent to two or three short 128 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. sharp screams of rage. His shoulder being broken, however, he was unable to charge, and upon receiv- ing three more bullets fell to the earth dead. This was my first elephant this year. When at length we all met again, I found that my companions had killed two more, both young bulls about the same size as mine, and the six tusks averaged about 20 lbs. apiece. Besides those killed, Wood had wounded a full-grown bull with fine tusks, but eventually lost him owing to the thickness of the bush. As soon as our Kafirs had once more all assembled at the spot where the blankets and other baggage had been left, we despatched them in three parties to chop out the tusks, whilst we ourselves set to work to prepare a breakfast, for which the cool morning air and the excitement of the hunt had given us a keen appetite, and after having very leisurely discussed an ample and substantial meal, of which some slices of fried heart, fresh from one of the newly-slain elephants, formed a not unimportant feature, we proceeded (guided by the loud cries and diabolical singing of the Kafirs) to inspect the nearest of our three prizes, which was not more than 300 yards distant. The huge carcase, or rather what remained of it, lay on one side, as it had fallen, with the legs extended. Behind the ribs and just over the belly the Kafirs had peeled off a large slab of skin, about three feet square, and through the trap -door thus formed dragged out the stomach and intestines ; they had also cut out the heart, liver, and hings, so that what was left was merely a hollow shell, in the lower half of which the blood had formed a pool a foot deep. Into this cavity they and the Bushmen now kept entering by twos, disappearing entirely from VII A BATH OF BLOOD 129 sight, searching eagerly for small pieces of fat along the backbone and about the kidneys, and bathing in and smearinor themselves all over with the blood. This is a common practice amongst all the natives in the interior of Africa whenever large game, such as elephants or rhinoceroses, are killed, particularly if they happen to be the first of the season. Whether they imagine that this bath of blood gives them courage or not, I cannot say. They do not wash it off again, but let it dry on them and remain there till it gradually wears or gets rubbed off". Up to the time of our arrival on the scene there had been very little progress made at chopping out the tusks, each one having left this part of the business to his companions, and devoted all his own time and attention to securing tit-bits of fat juicy meat and roasting the same over the fire that had been kindled near at hand. Our presence, however, soon changed the aspect of aff'airs, and, at last, by an hour after mid-day, the six tusks were laid side by side, each native had his bundle of meat and fat tied up with strings of bark, and we were once more ready to resume our journey. Had there been water in our immediate vicinity we should have remained and passed the night here, but, the nearest stream being at a considerable distance, we deemed it best to push on. A walk of some eight or ten miles through low, sparsely-wooded hills brought us to a small river, and, it being then pretty late, we forthwith made our camp near the summit of a piece of rising ground on its farther side. Of course we had an extra yarn that evening, and, seated round the cheery blaze of the log fire, fought the battle o'er again and killed our game once more. Our native followers, too, K I30 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. revelling in an abundance of the fattest and most esteemed portions of the three elephants, danced and sang a qui le mieux ; and, lastly, a few prowling hyaenas, having smelt out the meat that hung in festoons on all the trees around our camp, commenced to serenade us with their dismal, melancholy howls. But at length sleep, " tired nature's sweet restorer," began to steal over us, so, calling to the Kafirs to cease their wild and noisy performances and make up the fires, especially that which, with an eye to the morrow's breakfast, we had lighted over a hole in the ground containing a huge junk of elephant trunk, we wrapped ourselves in our blankets and were soon oblivious of all the cares and troubles of this world. At last, on Saturday, June 27, from the top of a high sand-belt, we caught the first distant view of the far-famed Victoria Falls of the Zambesi. Our guide had evidently taken us very much out of our direct course, for, instead of hitting off the river exactly at the falls as we ought to have done, we were now far to the eastward ; but we all felt grateful to him for the mistake, for otherwise not only should we have missed the glorious bird's-eye view of the whole valley of the Zambesi, which we were now enjoying, but also should probably not have examined, as we did on the following day, the remarkable chasm through which the river runs below the falls. From where we stood the coup-d'ail was truly magnificent ; we must have been fully twenty miles distant, but the immense volumes of spray which, like white feathery clouds, rose high into the air from the long, narrow chasm into which the river (more than a mile broad) madly plunged, seemed scarcely a couple of miles off. With Mr. Garden's glass we could see, through VII DISTANT VIEW OF THE FALLS 131 the less dense portions of the spray, the broad blue river, studded with thickly-wooded islands, and even distinguish here and there the tall thin stems and graceful feathery crowns of several lofty palm-trees. Between our station and the river lay spread out beneath us the rough, rugged country of which I have before made mention, cut up in all directions by innumerable fissures and ravines, whose very inequalities, aided by the enchantment distance invariably lends, rendered it pleasant to the eye, though to walk across, it is one of the most awkward bits of country I know of. On the other side of the river rose, one behind the other, range beyond range of low, well-wooded hills, the farthest of which, blending with the distant horizon, bounded one of the most beautiful panoramas that it has yet been my fate to look upon. Our Bushmen and Kafirs from the Matabele country could not understand the cloud of spray at all, and made the most naive remarks concerning it, asserting it to be steam rising from boiling water, and then asking our guide how their people had managed to make so large a pot ! As it was still early when we first sighted the falls we hoped to be able to reach them or their immediate vicinity before nightfall ; but never were erring mortals more deceived, for, owing to the numberless ravines, each one deeper and more precipitous than the last, we were still when the sun went down at least eight or ten miles from the wished-for goal, though not more than one from the deep chasm at the bottom of which the river runs below the falls. That night we camped on the summit of a small round hill, and were lulled to sleep by the deep continuous roar of the most glorious waterfall in the world. 132 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Although the Victoria Falls are only i8 degrees south of the equator, still the nights at this season of the year are very cold. In the day-time the temper- ature is about the same as on a summer's day in England, but the atmosphere, being much drier, not so oppressive. This is, of course, the cold season of the year, and even by the end of August there will be a change indeed. On the morning of the 28th v^e started to see the falls at close quarters, resolving to cut straight down to the river, and then skirt along the edge ot the chasm through which it here flows. This chasm is in itself a most wonderful sight, and in many respects, I think, must resemble the deep canyons in North- Western America. The sides of this curious cleft in the earth's surface are more than precipitous, they are overhanging, and at its bottom, at a depth of many hundred feet, the river runs in a boiling, seeth- ing torrent. We now followed the course of the river, often making long detours to avoid the many precipitous gullies. On the way Mr. Garden shot a water-buck cow, bringing it down on the spot with a ball through the neck, and, as we had not yet breakfasted, we forthwith cut out the liver, and, kindling a fire, soon made short work of it. As we neared the falls we found that the river ran in sharp zigzags, doubling backwards and forwards across its general course, so that by cutting from point to point we did not go over one-fourth of the ground we must have done had we followed the edge of the chasm. At last, about mid-day, we stood on the brink of the falls themselves. How I wish I could give you some idea of their wonderful grandeur and beauty! But the task is far beyond me. Imagine VII THE VICTORIA FALLS 133 a river more than a mile broad, suddenly tumbling over a precipice 400 feet in depth, which runs in a perfectly straight line across its entire breadth ; and perhaps from these naked facts, imagination may picture in some degree how grand a sight must be that of the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi. The river tumbles into a narrow rent in the earth which runs right across its course. This rent, due to some con- vulsion ot Nature, is only about 100 yards in breadth, and the outlet from it, which is near the northern bank, is still narrower. Both sides of this fissure, a mile in breadth, into which the river plunges, are perfectly precipitous, so that one can walk along the edge as far as the outlet, right opposite the falls, and on the same level as the river above them. The even face of the falls is marred by two islands, both near the southern bank, one of which was named Garden Island by Dr. Livingstone ; this, however, does not much matter, as, owing to the dense spray which ascends from the chasm high into the air, more than 200 or 300 yards can never be seen at once. As we stood facing the falls the roar was deafening, and so dense was the spray that, except when a puff of wind blew it momentarily aside, we could see absolutely nothing. But these glimpses were magnificent. One stands, it must be understood, on the very edge of the chasm, on a level with the river above, and only separated from the cataract by the breadth of the opening (about 100 yards), into which it dashes, so that when a sudden puff of wind blows away the spray immediately in front one sees the beautiful blue river, studded with thickly-wooded, palm-bearing islands, seemingly as still and quiet as a lake, flowing tranquilly on heedless of its coming danger, till with a crash it leaps in one 134 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. splendid mass of fleecy, snow-white foam into an abyss 400 feet in depth. At whatever part one looks, the rays of the sun shining on the descend- ing masses of foam form a double zone of prismatic colours, of whose depth and brilliancy no one who has only seen the comparatively faint tints of an ordinary rainbow can form any conception. Such are the Victoria Falls — one of, if not the^ most transcendently beautiful natural phenomena on this side of Paradise. Mr. Garden, who has also seen the Falls of Niagara, considers that, taken all round, the Victoria Falls are superior in grandeur and magnificence, though in the former the volume of water is greater than in any part of the latter ; but comparisons are odious, and, no doubt, each excels in different ways. Anywhere within a hundred yards of the cataract the spray, of course, wets one through in no time, and near the edge it is like standing in a pond. The narrow rent which serves as the river's outlet doubles round and runs for 500 or 600 yards parallel with the chasm, and then again doubles backwards and forwards several times in a zigzag course, as before described. On the point of land thus formed, the ground, from the continuous drenching of the spray, is always damp and boggy, and on it is a thick grove of large trees of a species unknown to me, and, in some parts, of dense underwood composed of clumps of palm-bushes and other shrubs. This damp and shady retreat forms (especially during the hot weather) a favourite resort of elephant and buffalo, besides water-buck, koodoo, impala, etc. The fresh spoor showed us that a herd of buffaloes had not long left before our arrival, and the huge footprints of elephants and hippopotami bore evidence that some VII POOKOO ANTELOPE 135 of these animals had also been here very recently. Before leaving this glorious scene, we went up to look at the entrance to the gorge into which the river rushes as it emerges from the chasm of the falls, when, as we approached the edge, I, being first, perceived, not twenty yards in front of me, through the dense misty spray, a small antelope, which I took for a reed-buck. It was standing browsing literally on the very brink of the awful abyss, utterly regard- less of the roar of the falling masses of water, the drenching, penetrating spray (which by this time had chilled us to the very bone), and, worse than all, of the ruthless intruders upon its moist domain. A bullet from Mr. Garden's rifle, which broke its fore- leg, was the first intimation it received of our where- abouts, and another through the shoulder settled it. After the Kafirs had carried it beyond the reach of the spray, to skin and cut up the meat, my attention was called to it by one of my Matabele Kafirs crying out : " What sort of a buck is this ? It isn't a reed- buck — look at its tail ! " And on doing so I at once saw that it was a species with which I was quite unacquainted. It was a female, about the size of a reed-buck, but rather heavier in the body, and in colour a sort of foxy red, with long curly hair on the back and haunches. We at first imagined it to be a lech we ewe, but on asking our Zambesi natives, they pronounced it to be a pookoo, an antelope discovered by Dr. Livingstone, and named by him after Major Vardon — {^Cobus Vardoni). They said there were very few about here, but that higher up the Zambesi, on the northern bank, and on the southern bank of the Chobe, they were common ; and this we afterwards found to be the case. Above the falls, from the point some sixty miles 136 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. distant where it is joined by the Chobe, the Zambesi flows through low, undulating forest-clad sand ridges, which cuhninate here and there in abrupt rocky cliffs or stony hills. Its banks, and the islands with which its broad blue bosom is studded, are decorated with graceful, feathery palm-trees of two varieties, under which, on the northern shore, many a small cluster of neat-looking native huts may be seen. Every- thing in the vicinity of this glorious river looks green and smiling. Its waters are ol a deep blue, pure and' clear as one could wish. In the still, deep reaches at the tail of the islands, or the quiet shady coves formed by some point of land, herds of hippo- potami disport themselves in almost complete security; whilst from the trees and bushes which line its banks strange birds, scared by the approach of the intruder, wing their way to more secure retreats ; and now and again may be seen the handsome white-headed fish-eagle, as he soars in graceful circles high over- head, or, seated on the topmost branch of some withered tree, gives vent from time to time to the loud shrieking cry peculiar to the eagle tribe. Even in a fertile, well-watered land, the first sight of a beautiful river is always pleasant ; but after our long journey through the unspeakably dreary, sandy, thirsty, silent, lifeless wastes, that stretch in unbroken monotony from the very banks of the Zambesi to the far-off Limpopo, the sight of the glorious sheet of running water, and the semi-tropical luxuriance and verdure of the surrounding scenery, burst like a vision of Paradise upon our thirsty gaze. I may as well here say that we saw the river Zambesi and the Victoria Falls under the most favourable circum- stances, for during the past season the rains having been unprecedentedly heavy, and not being long VII VICTORIA FALLS BY MOONLIGHT 137 over, the river was still, on our arrival, excessively high, and the volume of water at the falls much greater than is usually the case, for, with the exception of where it was broken by the two islands I have before mentioned, the face of the falls pre- sented one even, uninterrupted sheet of foam, and nowhere were the rocks to be seen that marred its regularity when Mr. Baines made his excellent and very precise drawings of it in 1862. I myself subsequently paid a second visit to the falls in the following October, at the very end of the dry season, when the river was at its lowest ; and although they were still a grand sight, and at the same time the spray being very much less, a far more extended view was obtainable than on my first visit, yet to my mind the effect was not to be compared with that produced by the fall of the far greater volume of water which I then saw. During the two following days, Monday and Tuesday, we remained at our camp near the tails, making short excursions up and down the river, and ever and again returning to feast our eyes once more on the mighty cataract ; and on Monday night, the moon being at its full, we went to view the falls by its light. Its pale, soft beams were, however, unequal to the task of piercing the dense volumes of silvery spray, on which they nevertheless imprinted a most perfect double lunar rainbow, whose soft tints rivalled in beauty the more gaudy colours of its diurnal relative. During these two days very many natives came across in canoes from their villages on the northern bank (the southern side is here uninhabited, owing to fear of invasion by the Matabele), bringing baskets of corn, maize, beans, and ground-nuts tor sale. 138 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Their canoes are simply logs roughly hollowed out and rounded off at the ends, and are very crank- looking craft ; they are usually paddled by two natives, one in the bow and the other in the stern, and will not carry more than one passenger, who sits in the middle. Along the banks of the river about here we found that the natives had dug a great number of pitfalls, about ten feet in depth, to entrap hippopotami, elephants, or buffaloes, which, being always placed in the pathways made by these animals, and neatly covered over with dry grass, are most difficult to detect, even when one knows there are such things about ; but the unconscious traveller, ignorant of anything of the sort, is almost sure to be engulfed in one of them sooner or later. This happened to two of our party, neither of whom, luckily, was in any way hurt, after which we adopted the plan of letting one of the Kafirs walk in front, who gave us due notice of their whereabouts, by either uncovering them with an assegai or falling into them, an example which we were, of course, careful not to follow. But all this time the season was fast advancing, and it behoved us to push on in search of elephants ; so on Tuesday evening we held a council of war, in order to decide to what part of the country we should next direct our steps. Like the celebrated house mentioned in the Bible, we were divided amongst ourselves. Wood wishing to turn back and strike through the hills eastward to the country near the river Gwai, where he and I had made so successful a hunt the preceding year, whilst I myself was bent upon following the Zambesi to the westwards, hoping to meet with a hunter's paradise in the unknown country in that direction, and Mr. Garden and his VII WE DIVIDE OUR FORCES 139 brother inclined to my opinion ; so it was finally settled that Wood should take fourteen of our Kafirs and Bushmen, and make tracks eastwards, taking with him the tusks of the three elephants already shot, which he would forward at the earliest oppor- tunity to the waggons at Daka ; whilst I, with ten Kafirs and two Bushmen, together with the Gardens and their whole retinue, should proceed up the river. CHAPTER VIII Koodoo — Impala — Tenacity of Life — Water-buck — A New Servant — The " Chobe " River — Pookoo Antelopes — Buffaloes — A Wounded Cow — Elephant-shooting — Lions at Night — Abundance of Buffalo — The "Pookoo Flats" — Mosquitoes and Tsetse-Flies. It was on the ist of July 1874 that we broke up our camp at the Victoria Falls, where we had passed a pleasant week, viewing and reviewing from every point of vantage this grandly beautiful work of Nature. Following the course of the river, and keeping close along the bank, we found the walking in most parts very tolerable, though in places the sand-belts, thickly timbered and covered with dense underwood, came right down to the water's edge. Just before sundown, as we were making a cut across a neck of land to avoid a large bend of the river, I descried the head and ears of a koodoo cow, gazing intently at us from the edge of a patch of bush, and calling Captain G.'s attention to it, he immediately fired, but the range was rather far, and whether the shot took effect or not, I cannot say ; at any rate the animal bounded away through the bushes, followed by several more, including two bulls. One of these latter carried a very fine pair of horns, so I seized my ten-bore rifle from the hands of the Kafir who was carrying it, and ran at my utmost speed, skirting 140 cH.viii FINE KOODOO BULL SHOT 141 along the bush, in the hope of cutting them off as they emerged on the farther side. I was just in time, for the koodoos having, as I had anticipated, turned up wind, passed me in single file at not more than 120 yards' distance. The largest bull — -a magnificent specimen of perhaps the handsomest antelope in the world — came last, and as he cantered easily by, I took him just in front of the shoulder to allow for the rate at which he was going, and fired. The shot, which told loudly as it struck, brought him to his knees, but springing up again, he turned at right angles to his former course and came bounding along straight in my direction. Any one unacquainted with the habits of the animal would have sworn that he was charging ; but I knew well that it was but the spasmodic rush which all animals make, after receiving a ball through the heart. When within a few yards of where I stood, he fell headlong to the earth, but regaining his legs made another short rush, and then falling forwards once more — with such force as to break the bone of the lower jaw against a large piece of stone — lay still for ever. This was the finest koodoo I had yet shot, and indeed one of the finest I had ever seen, and with admiration I gazed on its graceful proportions, and small game-looking head, surmounted by the long spiral horns. The rest of our party now coming up, we resolved, as we were only a few hundred yards from the river, to camp on the spot, so, kindly assisted by Mr. Garden, I set to work to carefully remove the skin from the head and neck of my prize, which I was determined to preserve in toto, with the long beard under the throat, and the mane on the back of the neck. I may here say that the horns of this koodoo measured 43 inches in perpendicular height, that is, in a straight line from 142 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. point to base. On examination, we found that my bullet had struck it in the centre of the shoulder, and going right through the heart, lodged under the skin on the other side. Early the next morning we came across an immense herd of impalas, one of which I shot. My bullet — a ten to the pound — struck it as it was running straight away, and entering by the left thigh, tore a passage through the entire length of its body, passing out on the breast, and yet this animal — not much larger than a springbuck — ran at least 400 yards after receiving such a wound, and had it not been for the excellent spooring of one of my Masaras, would have eluded us after all, in the jungle, and become a prey to the vultures and hyenas. The tenacity of life exhibited by wild animals in South Africa, and I suppose all over the world, is really extraordinary, and many instances of it have come under my own personal notice so wonderful, that I hardly like to recount them. In the afternoon, as we were skirting along the river, a small herd of water-buck rushed out from a patch of reeds, crossing about 100 yards in front of us as they made for the jungle. As they passed we fired, wounding two, but though there was a good deal of blood on the spoor, and we followed them a consider- able distance, they made good their escape. Later on we met a small party of natives, who had come across from their village on the other side, to hunt. They were all armed with huge spears, but their hunting seemed to be confined to visiting and keeping in order a lot of pitfalls— of all of which we had fortunately managed to steer clear — and despatching with the aforesaid spears any animals that were unlucky enough to tumble into them. In the evening one of these men came to our camp, saying VIII A BEAUTIFUL VIEW 143 he wanted to work for one of us, and after a good deal of interpreting, engaged to follow my fortunes for three months, for the consideration of a cotton blanket, to be paid at the end of that time. He was a fine, broad-shouldered fellow, as black as ebony, always good-tempered and willing, and proved a most excellent servant. Like most of the natives who inhabit the fertile banks of the Zambesi, he was fat and sleek, and presented a strong contrast to my spare-made, sinewy Makalakas and Masaras. At the spot where we camped that night, the river was more than a mile broad, running over a shallow rocky bed, and presenting the appearance of a rapid, though no rocks were apparent above its surface. As I looked across this vast expanse of rippling broken water, the crest of every tiny wave gilded by the rays of the setting sun, I thought it one of the most perfect of the many beautiful views I had yet seen along the banks of the Zambesi. Early on the morning of the following day, as we were passing through a patch of terribly dense jungle that came down to the water, we cut the fresh spoor of three elephant bulls, and following it, all but got up to them (in fact, I had just caught a glimpse of the hind-quarters of one), when the wind suddenly veering, they smelt us, and were off in the twinkling of an eye ; of course we ran on the spoor, but in such jungle it was hopeless, for whereas they crashed down all before them, we had our work cut out to force a passage at all, and so had to give it up as a bad job, cursing the adverse fate that had, as it were, dashed the cup from our very lips, for had the wind remained favourable but a few moments longer, we might have crept close up to them, and obtained a splendid standing shot. In the afternoon Mr. G. 144 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. shot a water-buck bull, about three parts grown, and although the meat of this species of antelope is very- coarse and ill-flavoured, we found its marrow bones exceedingly good, and they proved a welcome addition to our supper. The next day was Saturday (July 4), our fourth day since leaving the falls, and shortly after noon we reached "Umparira," the town I have before mentioned as situated just at the junction of the Chobe and Zambesi rivers. We here found two Griqua hunters in the service of Mr. Westbeech, and as they were thinking of returning in a few days to his waggons, at Pandamatenka, I persuaded them to take the head and horns of the koodoo I had shot a few days before with them, giving them at the same time a letter to their " Baas," begging him to be kind enough to forward them to my own waggons at Daka at the first opportunity. These Griquas told us they had killed an elephant bull close at hand that very morning, and had only just returned from it. This elephant was one of four that had come down in the night and drunk only a few hundred yards from their camp ; being apprised of which fact by some natives, who had found the fresh spoor, they followed them into the dense bush close to the river, and coming up with them, broke the shoulder of one at the first discharge, and finally killed him. This, they said, was the first elephant they had killed this season, as having suffered severely from fever they were still very weak, and consequently unable to do much hunting. One of them, Jacob Ourson by name, told us he had been some distance up the Chobe the preceding year, and gave us some information about the country. He said the sand-ridges along the river were covered with dense jungle, in which, last year, he had found elephants plentiful, and vm THE CHOBE RIVER 145 buffaloes innumerable. Umparira is a horrid-looking place, situated in a marsh between the two rivers, suggestive of nothing but fever, ague, and mosquitoes. It is a most unhealthy spot, and the graves of three English traders, who died there of the deadly mal- arial fever, attest the fact. It is just my idea of Eden in Martin Chuzzlewit^ and the very look of the place is almost enough to give one ague. Having delayed a considerable time talking to Jacob Ourson, it was late before we again made a start, and that night we camped at only a few miles' distance from Umparira. The Chobe, near its junction with the Zambesi, is a fine deep river, several hundred yards in breadth. The word " Chobe " (which, according to Dr. Livingstone, is the name by which this river was known to the Makololo in the time of Sebituane) we found to convey no meaning to the natives now living along its banks, who have no particular name for it, but call it differently opposite each town, and "Chobe" is very likely only the name of some particular part, or of the headman of some town on its banks whom the great explorer visited. The next day (Sunday), we continued our journey westwards along the southern bank of the Chobe, which here runs nearly due east. As we had been informed, we found that a dense continuous jungle, interspersed with large forest trees, came down in most parts almost to the water. This jungle-covered land rises in some places abruptly, in others in a gentle slope, leaving along the shore a margin of open ground (from 10 to 100 yards broad), covered with short grass, and formed, no doubt, of alluvial deposit. On the other side of the river, as far as the eye can reach, stretches a wide expanse of flat, marshy country, intersected by numerous deep, well-defined L 146 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. streams, that here form a sort of network between the Chobe and the Zambesi. As we proceeded, traces of the presence of elephants and buffaloes became more and more frequent, and we kept a sharp look-out for fresh spoor ; from time to time herds of pookoo antelopes (a rare species of water-buck only found along the banks of the Chobe and Zambesi rivers), disturbed by our approach whilst feeding close along the water, eyed us curiously, and then bounded up into the jungle. Three of them, however, fell to our rifles in the course of the fore- noon, one of which — a young ram — was the first of these animals I ever shot. As it was Sunday, and we wished to cut up the meat of the three pookoos, we came to a halt soon after mid-day, and finding a convenient place, cleared a spot just within the edge of the bush, where we might arrange our camp for the night. About a couple of hours before sundown, being tired of sitting still, and wishing to see if there were any elephant spoor about in the neighbourhood, I called up my Kafirs, and started on a tour of inspection. As we advanced into the bush, we found the tracks of elephants and buffaloes crossing and recrossing it in all directions, so much so indeed that I almost expected to run across a herd of the former that very evening, and felt sure I should see some of the latter coming down to drink before long. About an hour's walk from our camp I crossed an open valley, running down at right angles to the river, between two sand-ridges covered with dense jungle, down which ran several large game paths, leading to the water, and well trampled by buffaloes and elephants. From the great quantity of spoor — of all dates up to the preceding night — I had no viii LARGE HERD OF BUFFALOES 147 doubt that this valley formed a favourite route to and from the river, and made a mental note of it, as a good place to watch for them on moonlight nights. As it was already late when I started, I had not gone very far beyond this point, when, warned by the disappearance of the sun behind the tree -tops that not much more than half an hour's daylight remained, I turned to retrace my steps, in order to reach camp before dark. On again arriving at the open valley mentioned above, I found it occupied by a large herd of two or three hundred buffliloes, that had emerged from the surrounding jungle during my absence, and were now feeding quietly down towards the river for their evening drink. Though I hardly liked to fire, for fear of disturbing elephants, some of which might, for all I knew, be within hearing, yet, on the other hand, I had a strong desire to secure a nice tat buffalo steak for supper, and at last forgetting all more prudent resolves, and sympathising with the feelings of my Kafirs, who kept entreating me to shoot them a fat cow, I took my four-bore elephant gun and advanced towards the still un- conscious herd, resolved to kill one if possible. Those that were nearest were about 120 yards from the edge of the bush, beyond which there was no shelter, save that afforded by a few large scattered goussy trees. However, by creeping cautiously forward on my hands and knees, I managed to get within 80 yards or so, when an old cow observing me, raised her head and gazed steadily towards where I crouched. There was no time to be lost, as I saw she was thoroughly alarmed, so, singling out a fine fat cow, that stood broadside on close beside her, I raised my heavy gun, and taking a quick aim behind her shoulder, fired. The 148 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. loud bellow that followed the shot told me she was hard hit, but I could see nothing, for the whole herd, startled by the report of the gun, rushed together in wild affright, and now stood in a dense mass, facing towards their hidden foe, effectually screening the wounded cow from my view. In another instant, seemingly satisfied that something dangerous was near, they turned about and galloped away across the valley, making for the bush on the opposite side, and on the dust raised by their many feet subsiding, I beheld the one I had wounded still standing where she had been shot, and thought she was about done for ; but on seeing me step from behind a tree, she immediately wheeled round and made for the jungle. When the herd ran together, after I had fired, with several nasty-looking old bulls in their front, my native attendants had all retreated precipitately to the edge of the bush (with the exception of one of the Masaras, who was carrying a small gourd of water slung on an assegai over his shoulder), or I might have given the cow another shot with my second gun before she turned to run. Although evidently severely wounded, she still managed to get over the ground at a great rate, and entered the bush at least 100 yards in advance of myself and the Bushman, who were following at our best pace, the Kafirs carrying my guns being a considerable distance behind. Just within the edge of the jungle was one very thick patch, unlike the greater part, covered with foliage, and behind this the wounded buffalo turned and stood at bay waiting for her pursuers. Not thinking of this stratagem (a very common one with both buffaloes and elephants), and imagining her to be a considerable distance ahead, I ran into her very horns before I saw her, and she at the same VIII CHARGED BY A BUFFALO 149 time seeing me at once charged, with eyes on fire, and her nose stretched straight out, grunting furiously. Luckily she was not standing head on, but broadside to me, and so could not come straight at me, but had first to turn round the bush. This gave me time to spring through the bushes to one side, as she rushed past, when she immediately made at the Bushman, who, springing into a small sapling, just swung his body up out of reach as she passed beneath. So close was she, that, as the calabash full of water, which he had been carrying slung on an assegai, fell to the ground behind him, she smashed it to atoms, either with her feet or horns, just as, if not before, it touched the ground. After this she turned and stood under the very slender tree on which the Bushman hung, looking up at him, and grunting furiously, but not attempting to butt the tree down, which I think she could have accomplished had she but tried. At this instant the Kafir who carried my ten-bore rifle, reaching the scene of action unperceived by the buffalo, fired at and missed her, on which she again retreated behind the bush from whence she had first charged. By this time, however, I had my second elephant gun in my hands, and creeping up gave her another bullet on the point of the shoulder, just as she caught sight of me and was again turning to charge. On receiving this second ball, she fell to the ground, and, snatching up an assegai and followed by several of the Kafirs, we ran in and despatched her before she could rise. She proved to be a dry cow in splendid condition. The sun was now down, so we lost no time in cutting up the meat and starting for camp, which, after an awkward walk in the dark through the thick thorny bush, we at last reached. On my arrival, I found that Mr. Garden, who, like 150 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. myself, had gone out for a stroll in the afternoon, had not yet returned. Captain Garden during my absence had shot another " pookoo " antelope, which made our fourth that day. As the night was very dark, and the bush unpleasantly thick to get through even in the daytime, we began to think Mr, Garden must have missed his way, and were just about to fire a couple of shots to guide him, when we heard voices in the distance, and a few minutes later he stepped into camp, and we were all of us soon deeply inter- ested in the contents of a pot of " pookoo " stew. Mr. G. had shot an old buffalo bull with his 500- bore Express rifle, and brought the grim-looking head back to camp with him. It must have been a very old animal, for the face was almost devoid of hair, and the horns very close set, but like those ot most of the buffaloes in this part of the country, not at all wide spread, though very deep and rugged, and gnarled as the trunk of an old tree. Mr. Garden had also noticed a good deal of elephant spoor, and as in this dense jungle we were unanimous that it would be useless to hunt in company (as in all prob- ability more than one elephant would seldom be seen at once), I resolved to separate from my kind friends on the following day, and henceforth hunt alone. Accordingly, early the next morning, when crossing the valley where the preceding evening I had shot the buffalo, we cut the fresh spoor of elephants that had passed to and from the river during the night, I proposed to my friends that they should follow them, and leave me to proceed farther up the river. To this they would not agree, but insisted that I should take the spoor and let them push on, as they said they would be sure to find other spoor before long ; and we thus finally settled it, and with hearty wishes vni FRESH ELEPHANT TRACKS 151 for mutual success, and the hope that before Jong we should meet again, we parted. I lost no tune in making arrangements to follow the elephants, and after putting down my blankets and other baggage with all the buffalo and pookoo meat, and leaving two Kafirs in charge, at once started in pursuit, taking care to have all the calabashes filled with water, and not forgetting the large American axe to chop out the tusks in case of success. On carefully examining the spoor, my Bushmen reported that there were four elephants, one large full-grown bull and three younger ones. For about half a mile they had followed one of the paths leading up the valley, and then leaving it turned into the neighbouring jungle, heading down the river in the direction from whence we had come that morning. They had been feeding quietly along, and I felt sure that we should come up with them before long if they did not get our wind. But that this contingency would happen I was very much afraid, for the wind kept veering and chopping about in a most distressing manner, and as the elephants too held no particular course, but kept doubling about in all directions, I began to fear they would surely scent us before I could get up to them. Besides this, the jungle was fearfully thick, and in many places we found it difficult to creep through it at all. After proceeding in this manner for about three hours, following slowly and carefully on the spoor, several unmistakable signs showed us that we were not far behind our game, and might expect to come up with them at any moment, and very shortly afterwards, the Masara who was carrying my gun, and taking the spoor, suddenly stopped and pointing forwards, ejaculated the one word " Nansia " (I'here they are), immediately followed by " Ee-ya-balecka " - 152 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. (They're running away). At the same instant I caught a ghmpse of the outhne of a huge grey mass that was passing at a half walk, half run, not more than thirty yards from us. The sharp- scented brute was not in full flight, and had probably only got the merest whiff of tainted wind, but there was not an instant to lose, so, seizing my gun and holding it in both hands, the muzzle pointed forwards, ready to be raised to my shoulder at a moment's notice, I dashed through the jungle as fast as possible in order to intercept the elephant I had seen and give him a shot in the shoulder at close quarters. In this way, only thinking of the one I had already seen, I ran almost under the tusks of another huge old bull that, still unconscious of any danger, was standing, head on to me, behind a dense bush. On hearing the rustling I made, he raised his head and trunk, showing a fine thick pair of tusks, and at the same time spreading his enormous ears stared hard with his vicious-looking eyes towards where I stood. Now was my chance : scarcely half a dozen yards separated us, and as his head was raised, and he held his trunk high in the air, moving it quietly backwards and forwards to try and get my wind, his whole chest was exposed ; so quickly bring- ing my gun to my shoulder, and aiming tor the heart, I fired. The heavy recoil turned me right round, and when I again faced about, the elephant had vanished in the dense bush. However, I felt sure he would not go very far with such a wound, so bidding the Bushman, who was now beside me, to run on the spoor, I lost no time in following him, and after threading our way for a couple of hundred yards or so through the jungle, running as fast as circumstances would allow, we once more came up with him. He VIII BULL ELEPHANT SHOT 153 was evidently done for, and only walking slowly along, swinging his trunk from side to side. Some of my Kafirs having run round in front of him, now commenced to shout, on which he turned and came walking slowly back again towards me. As he passed at not more than twenty yards from me, I gave him another four-ounce ball in the centre of the shoulder, which brought him to a stand, and after receiving another immediately afterwards from my second gun, he fell flat on his side stone dead. On examination, we found him to be a fine old bull, with a perfect pair of tusks, weighing nearly 60 lbs. apiece, and I felt very well pleased at having secured him with so little trouble. The work of chopping out the tusks, and cutting out the fat and the best portions of the meat, occupied the greater part of the afternoon, so that when we reached the river at the drinking-place from whence I had taken the spoor in the morning, and where the two Kafirs had been left in charge of the baggage, it was already late, therefore I at once set to work to clear a piece of ground just within the bush and close to the water's edge, for as this was evidently a favourite drinking-place for elephants, I determined to remain in the same camp and hunt the surrounding jungle during the following week or so. Scarcely had we got everything ship-shape, when, just as, seated on my bed of dry grass, I was about to commence a supper of fried elephant's heart, washed down with a cup of bitter tea, one of the Kafirs reported that a large herd of buffaloes were coming down the valley to the drinking-place, on which I got up, and went to the edge of the bush to have a look at them. The whole of the open ground was literally covered with their massive dusky forms. 154 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. which in the dim twilight appeared twice their natural size. Though it is difficult to speak with any degree of accuracy as to numbers, I think there could not have been less than from two to three hundred, the greatest part of them being cows, and young animals not yet full grown, though here and there I distinguished an old bull, one of the patriarchs of the herd. They were advancing rapidly towards the river, and soon, preceded by an old cow, which from time to time stopped and sniffed the air suspiciously, their foremost ranks stepped knee-deep into the water, and after drinking their fill, gradually gave place to those in the rear, and again commenced feeding quietly up the valley. Until twilight had given place to a clear starlight night, I watched this interesting scene, standing just on the edge of the jungle, and not twenty yards from the nearest of them. Being well supplied with meat, I did not attempt to molest them, and soon the last of the herd, having satisfied his thirst, disappeared in the darkness of the night, and I once more returned with renewed energy to my interrupted supper. About an hour later, just as, wrapped in my kaross, I was falling asleep, a troop of lions commenced to roar not far down the river, and I roused myself to listen to their deep- toned muttering voices. They seemed to be advancing steadily along the river towards our camp, roaring grandly at intervals, and at length reached the place, not thirty yards away, where the buffaloes had drunk. Here they gave tongue in splendid style, making the whole forest resound again, and causing me to sit up and clutch my rifle involuntarily. Several times during my three years' wanderings in the far interior of Southern Africa, have I, when camped in a patch of bush, or lying at a shooting-hole on the edge of viH THE LION'S ROAR 155 some lonely pool or river, thus heard a troop of lions roar in my immediate vicinity, so close indeed, some- times, that I could hear the hiss of their breath after each purr ; and though it is now the fashion to depreciate the courage of the lion, the power of his voice, and everything else concerning him, yet it is a fact that, under such circumstances, several of them roaring in unison will make the whole air in their immediate vicinity vibrate and tremble, and I know of nothing in nature more awe-inspiring, or on a dark niffht more calculated to make a man feel nervous. As a matter of fact, however, according to my experience, there is very little to fear from lions when they roar freely, as they only do so after they have satisfied their hunger, whereas, when on the look-out for a meal, they are as still as the grave, or only give vent to a low purring growl, which, though uttered close at hand, seems to come from a long way off. Such at least has been the case on the occasions when they have attacked my oxen at nights, or whilst prowling about trying to do so, but kept off by the dogs. On the present occasion these lions soon passed our camp and continued up the river, their voices growing fainter and fainter, till at length they died away in the distance, and I fell asleep. Before sunrise the next morning, leaving the camp in charge of my two youngest Kafir boys, I started into the jungle with the rest in search of elephants, and had not proceeded 300 yards before crossing the fresh spoor of two bulls that had drunk during the night close to our camp, but so noiselessly as not to have awakened either myself or any of my Kafirs. We at once followed them, and they led us for two or three hours through the thick jungle, going westwards, almost parallel with the course of 156 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. the river ; but as is so often the case when elephant- hunting on foot, just as we were close up to, and expecting to sight them at every instant, they got our wind and decamped. Thinking that as they had not been much disturbed in this part of the country, they perhaps would not run far in such thick bush, I directed my two Masaras to take the spoor at their best pace, but though we stuck to it for good three hours, running and walking alternately, it was useless, and I finally gave it up. All the time we were thus following them, the elephants had been doubling about in every direction in the bush, constantly manoeuvring so as to get our wind, by which means they kept themselves informed of our whereabouts, and avoided a closer acquaintance. Several times the spoor showed us where they had been standing, no doubt listening intently, and sniffing the air for some sign of our approach. I may here say that whilst following these elephants early in the morning from the river, and before they got our wind, we came across two large herds of buffaloes, and on again returning to camp, after having been fairly outwitted by our would-be victims, we passed close to another large troop, that, having lain asleep in the deepest recesses of the jungle, during the heat of the day, were just commencing to feed down towards the river for their evening drink. The number of buffaloes about this part of the Chobe is really astonishing,^ and in no other part of the country that I am acquainted with, have I found them so numerous. They are quite a nuisance to the elephant-hunter, for not only do they continually 1 This was written in 1874. The buffaloes have now been driven farther westwards, but beyond the Sunta outlet they are still to be met with in i^reat numbers. VIII POOKOO ANTELOPES NUMEROUS 157 trample out the fresh spoor, and make it most difficult to follow, but often by lying quite close to where elephants are standing, and then running towards them on the hunter's approach, give notice that danger is at hand. At the point where we struck the river on our way back — some three or four miles to the westward of our camp — stretched a large flat piece of ground, in some parts over half a mile broad, lying between the steep forest -covered, jungly sand-belt and the bank of the river. This flat might be from six to eight miles long, and lay in the form of a semicircle, in a bend of the sand-belt, that rose abruptly behind it, and ran down to the water at each extremity. The greater part of this extensive tract — once no doubt the ancient bed of the river — was open, though here and there patches of bush were scattered over its surface, and near the river grew many very fine wide -branching camel- thorn trees (^Acacia giraffce^. On coming down from the jungle, about an hour before sundown, and looking across the open ground towards the river, I beheld several herds of" pookoo " antelopes, some impalas, and a small family of graceful striped koodoos — amongst them a grand- looking old bull — whilst far to my left the foremost ranks of a herd of buffaloes were just emerging from the bush, the fourth troop I had seen that day. Thoroughly disgusted with the result of my day's work in pursuit of the elephants, and in order to take the edge off my disappointment, I resolved to lay aside my rule never to shoot game (so long as I had any meat left in camp), and secure, if possible, a good specimen of the head of a male " pookoo," and accordingly on the way home killed two fine rams. The horns of one of these, which I now have in my 158 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. possession, measured 16 inches, whiich is about the extreme length they ever attain. The number of pookoo on these flats quite surprised me. Sometimes troops of more than fifty of them were to be seen together, males and females mixed, or again small herds of ten or fifteen old rams, forming, I suppose, a sort of bachelors' club. On my first arrival I found them very tame, and up to the time of my visit they had evidently had but very little experience of firearms. Owing to the great numbers of these antelopes, I christened this place the " Pookoo Flats," by which name I shall henceforth refer to it. Although the nights were still very cold, yet in the early part of the evenings, huge black mosquitoes, as vicious as bull-dogs, already commenced to make their presence disagreeably felt : little did I dream what was in store for me during the hot weather later in the season ! In the daytime, too, " tsetse " flies, whose numbers increased daily as the season advanced, were very troublesome. Nowhere does this virulent insect exist in such numbers as to the westward of the Victoria Falls, along the southern bank of the Zambesi and Chobe. It is usually found in great numbers near the river, becoming scarcer and scarcer as one advances inland, till at a distance of a few miles it disappears, except in some particular patches of forest. Along the water's edge they are an incredible pest, attacking one in a perfect swarm, from daylight till sunset, and without a bufi^alo or giraffe tail to swish them off", life would be unen- durable. The well-known African traveller, Andersson, says their bite has not been inaptly likened to that of a flea. My experience is that it is far more severe, and that about one in every ten bites (that perhaps vFii A PLAGUE OF "TSETSE" FLIES 159 touches a nerve) closely resembles the sting of a wasp or bee, as it will cause one when seated to spring up as if pricked with a needle. As they are possessed of a long probe, a thick flannel shirt offers no protection against these most abominable of all created insects — direct descendants, no doubt, of the flies that plagued Egypt. Though, during 1872-73, I had hunted elephants on foot in fly - infested countries, yet never had I met with them in sufficient numbers to cause much annoyance ; but along the Chobe river, during the months of September and October, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and all the other hardships that must of necessity be endured by the elephant-hunter, sank into insignificance as compared with the continuous unceasing irritation caused by the bites of the " tsetse " flies by day, and three or four varieties of mosquitoes by night. What a glorious field lies open there for an enthusiastic entomologist ! I think that this plague of "tsetse" flies, along the Chobe and Zambesi, is due to the enormous numbers of buffaloes that frequent their banks, as they always seem very partial to those animals. The bite of this remarkable insect, as is well known, though fatal to all kinds of domestic animals, is innocuous to every species of game, and to man. A general belief exists, that amongst domestic animals, the donkey, dog, and goat are exceptions to this rule, but this Is a mistake, for I have seen all three die from the effect of its bites. That all the natives living in the " fly " country possess both dogs and goats, I admit, but these have been bred there from generation to generation, and have become acclima- tised, whereas, if you take either a goat or a dog that has been bred outside the " fly " country, into a district where the " tsetse " is found, it will die in i6o A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. nine cases out of ten, and the original progenitors of the animals the natives now possess were no doubt such exceptions to the general rule. Even now, the natives told me, out of a litter of pups, born in the country and of acclimatised parents, some always die of " fly " symptoms. The " tsetse " fly is about the same size as a common horse fly, of a dull greyish colour, with bars of a pinky tinge across the body ; its wings, however, do not lie in the form of a penthouse, but are like those of an English house fly, only longer. Animals, such as horses and oxen, that have been bitten by the " fly " during the dry season, usually live on until the commencement of the rains, but seldom survive long after the first shower has fallen. It often happens that when hunting with horses, outside, but close to, the " fly " country, one is led in the ardour of the chase into an infested district ; if such is the case, and it is uncertain whether the horse has been bitten or not, the truth can be ascertained by pouring a few buckets of water over him, when, if he has been "stuck" (as hunters call it), his coat will all stand on end, like that of a lung-sick ox. On several occasions, horses have been purposely taken into parts of the "fly" country, where elephants were known to be plentiful, in the hope that by their aid their owners would be able to shoot enough ivory to compensate for the loss entailed by their inevitable death, for, of course, in tolerably open country a man ought to be able to kill very many more elephants on horseback than on foot. My comrade W. once made an experiment of this sort, and he informed me that at the end of two weeks his horse grew too weak to hunt with, and at the end of three could not carry him at all, though it did not die for some time afterwards. But to return to my journal. vrii LARGE HERDS OF BUFFALOES i6i The three following days I remahied in the same camp, hunting in the neighbouring bush with the very worst of luck, for though each day I got the fresh spoor of elephants, on all three occasions they winded me and decamped before I caught sight of them. I never saw such a place as this bush for the wind, which never seemed to blow for two minutes together from the same quarter. This I attributed to the different currents of air that were continually blowing over the open marshes on the other side of the river, and seemed to form eddies in the jungle. It was most disheartening, as in elephant-hunting on foot everything depends upon keeping below the wind of these keen-scented brutes, and here this was almost impossible. My only consolation lay in the hope that as the season advanced, and the weather became hotter, the winds would drop and the air become stiller. On each of these three days we encountered more than one large herd of buffiiloes, but having meat I never fired a shot at them for fear of disturbing more valuable game. On the Thursday night a troop of elephant cows came down to drink close to our camp, trumpeting and splashing about in the water for a long time. The spoor of this troop I followed the next day, though unsuccessfully, as I have before said. On Saturday morning (July ii), after burying the tusks of the bull I had shot the preceding Monday, being tired of my camp and the bad luck I had met with there, I packed up all my traps and made another start up the river. Whilst crossing Pookoo Flats early in the morning, I saw a black rhinoceros cow with a small calf not much larger than a pig, that, on getting our wind, at once made for the jungle at a quick trot, besides some koodoos M i62 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. zebras, and as usual any amount of impalas, pookoos, and baboons, which latter quaint-looking beasts swarm along the Zambesi and Chobe. When near the upper extremity of the flats we cut the fresh spoor of a troop of elephant cows, so, after putting down all the baggage and leaving two of the Kafirs in charge till our return, I at once set the Bushmen to follow them. The spoor took us right through the belt of jungle which lines the river, and out into a forest of goussy trees with very little underwood on the other side. Here it became involved in a labyrinth of other spoor of elephants that had only passed a short time before, and all the science of my two Bushmen (and better or more experienced hands on a game trail I never saw) did not suffice to unravel it, so at length I was forced to give it up. On the way back to the river we again crossed the spoor of two elephant cows, accompanied by several young animals of various sizes, so, thinking they would probably not be very far off in the bush, I followed them, and about an hour later the Bushman who was in front suddenly crouched down, and after peering eagerly through the jungle in front of him for a few moments, turned and whispered the well-known " Nansia " (There they are). The wind was perfectly fair, blowing strongly from the elephants towards where we stood, so taking my gun I walked quietly forwards to reconnoitre. As we had divined from the spoor, there were only two cows worth shooting, the largest of which was standing broadside to me, so, creeping noiselessly to within twenty yards, I gave her a ball in the very centre of the shoulder. The shot was followed by a rush, as the affrighted herd crashed through the bush, breaking everything before them, and not giving me a chance at the other cow VIII FAT ELEPHANT SHOT 163 with my second gun. The one I had fired at I saw from the first was mortally wounded, and after running 1 50 yards or so she fell dead, shot right through the heart. On cutting her up she proved to be excessively fat ; but though an old cow her tusks were not very large, only weighing 9 lbs. apiece. I set the Kafirs to work to chop out the ivory and cut out the heart and inside fit at once, and as, of course, very much Jess time and labour have to be expended on a cow than on a bull elephant (the bones in the head of the latter being not only much larger, but in addition very much harder than in the former), we managed to reach the place where the traps had been left before sundown, and at once made for the bank of the river some few hundred yards distant, in order to camp near the water. As we were nearincr the river I observed the figure of a man dressed in European clothes creeping forwards step by step, closely following a Kafir boy who kept pointing forwards, evidently to some sort of game that they were stalking. This I soon made out to be Tofts, Mr. G.'s servant, intent upon stalk- ing a pookoo. So intent was he upon his object that I managed to approach from behind and touch him on the shoulder before he observed me. Our greet- ing frightened away the antelope, which, as I had plenty of good fat elephant meat, did not much matter. Tofts told me that Mr. Garden was at his camp about a mile away, but that Captain Garden had gone farther up the river in company with Henry Wall (a Bastard man from Graham's Town, who had entered Mr. Garden's service at Tati, as interpreter 164 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. viii and overseer over all the waggon-drivers and Kafirs). Of course, on hearing that Mr. Garden was so near, I relinquished the idea of camping where I was, and under Tofts' guidance started forthwith for his bivouac, which we reached shortly after dusk. Old 4-B0RE Dutch Elephant Gun. Used by the Author in 1S73-74. PLATE VI 1. Impala Antelope ^ (iEpyceros Melampus). Shot on the Chobe river, July 29, 1877. Length of horns, in straight line from point to base, i toot 7 inches. 2. Impala Antelope S (^pyccros Melampus). Shot on the Chobe river, Aug. 14, 1879. Length of horns, in straight line from point to base, i foot 8 inches. 3. Springbuck S (Gazella Euchore). Shot near the Molapo river, June 28, 1876. 4. Springbuck S (GazcUa Euchore). Shot at great Chwai salt-pan, Jan. 10, 1881. 5. Blesbuck 9 • Shot on the Transvaal flats, Feb. 28, 1879. 6. Horns of Grey Rhebuck. From near Grahamstown, Cape Colony. 7. Horns of Red Rhebuck. From near Grahamstown, Cape Colony. 8. BusHBucK S (Tragclaphus Sylvaticus). Shot near Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony, March 1876. 9. Spotted Bushbuck ^ (Tragclaphus Scriptus). Shot on the Chobe river, near Linyanti, July 27, 1879. 10. Blue Wildebeest (^ (Catoblcpas Gorgon). Shot on the Mababe plain, Oct. 26, 1879. Spread of horns, 2 teet 2 inches. 8 To face page 1 64. CHAPTER IX Hippopotami— Lechwc Antelopes — Difficult Shooting — Elephants on the " Chobe " — A Plucky little Calf— A Canoe Ride — Makubas and their Island — Return to " Pookoo Flats" — 400 lbs. of Ivory. On our arrival we found that Mr. Garden was still down at the river, but in a few minutes he returned, with two guinea-fowls that he had just shot. These birds abound all along the river, roosting at nights in large flocks in the trees close to the water's edge, and are, in my opinion, when young, the best eating of all the game birds found in the interior of South Africa. Over a savoury stew of elephant's heart, we recounted to one another our several experiences during the past week. Mr. Garden had had no kick with the elephants ; for, though there were lots of them about, he had been, like myself, much bothered by the currents of wind in the thick bush. Just opposite this camp, on the other side of the river, or rather on an island in the marsh on the other side, for the country seemed flooded in every direction, was a small native town of some six or eight huts. These natives had paid several visits to my friend's camp, and he had been with them in their canoes to shoot hippopotami — which are plentiful in the Chobe — but without success, as they were afraid to paddle near enougrh to these much-dreaded monsters to allow him to shoot with any certainty, for the head of the hippo- 165 1 66 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. potamus, which is only kept above the surface for a few seconds at a time, offers a very small mark. As I have said, these animals are abundant in the Chobe, as also in the Zambesi, and usually congregate together in herds of from three or four to twenty members, though the old bulls are often seen alone. They remain in the river all day, but at night come out and feed along the banks, sometimes wandering to a considerable distance from the water. According to the natives — and they ought to know — they are very vicious, and it is dangerous to approach them in canoes, as they have a nasty trick of diving down and seizing these flimsy craft from beneath in their huge jaws, crushing them of course like nutshells. When shot they immediately sink to the bottom, and, if lean, and the weather be cold, will not rise to the surface for many hours, but in warm weather, and when fat, they come to the top in a much shorter time. The next day being Sunday, and as I had been working hard all the week, I did not go out hunting, but remained in the camp with Mr. Garden. About mid-day some natives came across from the little village opposite, bringing a few sweet potatoes and ground-nuts for sale, which I purchased for elephants' fat. On making inquiries about the different sorts of game to be found in this part of the country, they told me there were lots of " lechwe " in the marsh on the other side of the river, and as this was a species of antelope quite new to me, a specimen of which 1 longed to obtain, I persuaded them to take me across at once, to try and get a shot at one, as on the follow- ing day I wished to continue my journey up the river. We soon crossed the main stream, which seemed to be very deep, when, laying down their paddles, my boatmen took to long poles with a fork at the end, IX LECH WE ANTELOPES 167 and punted for about a mile and a half across some flooded grassy land, where in parts there was barely sufficient water to float the canoe, and we were just approaching some low swampy ground that appeared above the water level, when far to our right one of the natives descried some lechwes, on which the head of the canoe was turned in their direction, and cautiously propelled through the reeds and grass towards them. When near enough to make them out I could see that there were about twenty, all rams, as their long lyre-shaped horns proved (for the ewes of this species are hornless). They were standing up to their bellies in water, but after watching us for a short time, and when we were still 300 yards distant, they made for the drier ground, headed by a splendid old ram with a remarkably wicie-set pair of horns, of which I ardently longed to become the possessor. Taking ofl"' my veltschoons, I jumped out of the canoe, and tried to cut them ofi^, by running obliquely towards the same point for which they were heading, and partially succeeded, for as they came bounding along in single file, I managed to get within 200 yards or so of the hindmost, but on firing had the mortification of seeing the mud fly up, short of, and slightly behind him. I, however, loaded and followed them up again, and soon saw other herds dotted about the marsh, like spring- bucks on the open plains of the Transvaal Republic. Yet, despite my utmost efix^rts to stalk or cut them ofl^, often wading waist-deep in water, I found it impossible to get anywhere near them on the bare open marsh, and at last, having fired away the last of the ten bullets 1 had brought with me to no purpose, returned abolit sundown to the canoes, very tired, and with my naked feet very sore and much cut about by i68 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. the grass, reeds, and worst of all, the sharp edges of the shells of a sort of fresh-water mussel. Had I had a small accurately-sighted Express rifle the result would no doubt have been very different ; but it must be remembered that my whole armoury con- sisted of only two four-bore elephant guns, and a ten- bore rifle, with scarcely any grooving, and for which I had only spherical balls, which latter was the one I used on this occasion. However, though unsuccessful so far, I resolved that I would not quit the Chobe without obtaining a good specimen of the head of one of these rare and beautiful antelopes. When first they make up their minds to run, these lechwe buck stretch out their noses, laying their horns flat along their backs, and trot like an eland, but on being pressed break into a springing gallop, now and then bounding high into the air like impalas. Even when in water up to their necks they do not swim, but get along by a succession of bounds with great rapidity, making a tremendous splashing and general commotion. Of course when the water becomes too deep for them to bottom they are forced to swim, which they do well and strongly, though not as fast as the natives can paddle, and in the rainy season when the country is flooded great numbers are driven into deep water and speared before they can again reach the shallows where they can touch ground. It is owing to their being thus driven about and harried by the natives in canoes, I suspect, that they are so wild, as I don't think they can often have heard the sound of a gun before. On the following day, Monday, July 12, I again parted from Mr. Garden, and started away westwards, along the southern bank of the river, and soon find- ing traces of elephants, turned ofi^ to make a recon- naissance in the neighbouring jungles, but, though IX MORE ELEPHANTS 169 rousing two herds of buffaloes, and a black rhinoceros with a small calf, I did not chance across any fresh spoor of the animals of which I was in search, so, returning to the water in the evening, I slept at a distance of only three or four miles from where I had camped the preceding night. The next day ] made a new start, determined to keep straight on till sundown, unless I crossed the spoor of elephants that had drunk during the night, but the sun was scarcely an hour high, when, as I walked in front, my eyes were gladdened by the sight of the fresh footprints of a fine bull, and another half-grown ; on walking a little way into the jungle on their track, so as to examine the spoor minutely, and settle about how long ago they had passed, we soon found, from the freshness of the leaves, broken twigs, and other indications, that they must have drunk just about daybreak, and as they were feeding along in fancied security, I felt sure they were still not far distant. The bull, we found by the spoor, had something the matter (probably an old bullet) with his right fore- leg, which he brought round at each step with a sweep, making a semicircular furrow in the sand. It seemed as though we might be led to a consider- able distance from the river, so I told all my Kafirs except my two gun-carriers to run back and fill the calabashes with water as quickly as possible, and then with my two attendants commenced strolling quietly along the spoor, which was thickly strewn with leaves and chewed bark, expecting the boys to catch us up in a few minutes ; suddenly, as I was thus sauntering along with my eyes bent on the ground, never dreaming of anything of the sort, a slight rustling in front of me caused me to look up, and there, not twenty yards off, stood a fine bull elephant quietly lyo A HUNTER^S WANDERINGS ch. feeding on the dark green leaves of a shrub, with the name of which 1 am unacquainted ; he was standing with his wounded foot doubled backwards, and just resting with the point of the toe on the ground, leaning all his weight on the other foot. The second elephant, whose spoor we had seen, I then made out standing about twenty yards to the lett. It appeared to be a halt-grown beast, with tusks of about 6 or 7 lbs. weight — not worth shooting — who knows ^ perhaps it was a young sweetheart who had voluntarily left the herd to tend her injured lord, whose game leg, no doubt, had caused him to separate from his comrades. As I looked, she raised some sand with her trunk, and poured it on to the back of her head, just between the ears. Why she did this I leave to some wiser man than myself to determine, but do it she did. P'earing a sudden eddy of wind, which was now favourable, I at once, without waiting for the Kafirs, took my gun, and crept cautiously forwards on my hands and knees, determined to get as near as possible, and make sure of him with a bullet in the chest. I will here say that I consider there is no danger in creeping right up to a single elephant, though I do not think it advisable to approach within thirty yards or so of a large herd, as it often happens that in their first panic, they do not know exactly where the shot was fired, and come rushing down in a mass right on to the spot where the hunter stands, making it difficult for him to get out of the way. On this occasion, keeping the thickly-foliaged bush on which he was feeding between me and him, I crept round the side of it, and was then so near to him that he could almost have touched me had he stretched out his trunk, when I saw, that, whereas one of his tusks IX ANOTHER ELEPHANT SHOT 171 was curved right up in a semicircle, the other, which was shorter, stood straight out. It seemed strange as I watched him Winlcing his sharp twinkhng eyes, and quietly munching the bundles of leaves that he kept conveying to his mouth with his trunk, that he should be so utterly unconscious ot my presence. However, it was now time to act, so waiting till he again raised his trunk, I aimed so that the bullet should pass through the top of his heart and up into the lungs, and fired. On receiving the shot he recoiled on to his haunches, but recovering, spun round and went off at a great pace, using his game leg as though there were nothing the matter with it, and followed his young companion, a glimpse of whose hind-quarters I just caught disappearing through the bush. With such a wound I knew he would not go far, and he soon settled down into a walk, so running in front ot him, I gave him a second ball in the shoulder as he passed, when he stopped, and after swaying backwards and forwards, and breaking all the bushes within reach, he sank slowly down, leaning against a small tree, which his weight, though bend- ing it double, was not sufficient to break, so that he died thus, half propped up, with his head quite loose, and neither of his tusks resting on the ground. The Kafirs, now coming up in hot haste, were much surprised to find the elephant already dead, and I set them to work at once to chop out the tusks. One of these, as I have said, was curved to a remarkable degree, and when extracted from the skull, described considerably more than a half-circle, the other being absolutely straight. They were both within a pound of the same weight, scaling nearly 40 lbs. apiece. As the sun was not yet two hours high, I chopped out the tusks at once, and after burying them at the 172 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. foot of a large baobab tree, to be picked up on my return, continued my journey westwards along the river. About mid-day I met some of Captain Garden's boys carrying four bull tusks ; Captain G. himself I did not see, as he had taken a round in the sand-belt in the hope of cutting fresh elephant spoor. His boys informed me that there was no bush along the river's edge farther on, and no elephant spoor, and that their master had only met with one troop of bulls since parting trom his brother, when he with Henry Wall had shot two of them. They were now on their return down the river to Mr. G.'s camp at Pookoo Flats. In spite of this discouraging news, I determined to follow the course of the river for another day or two at least, and so continued my journey. All that day (Tuesday) and the following I trudged along, but saw not a sign of elephants ; but about lo A.M. on Thursday morning, I cut the fresh spoor of a troop of cows that seemed to have drunk late in the night. Filling the calabashes with water, I at once started on their spoor. They had been feeding about nicely, and digging up roots in all directions, and at mid-day it became evident that I was not far behind them. Just then a black rhinoceros, that was sleeping a little to one side of the elephant spoor, got our wind, and jumping up came tearing close past in front of us, snorting like a steam engine. A little farther on, and when we must have been within a few hundred yards of them, the elephants also winded us and ran. We at once commenced to run on the spoor, at a steady jog-trot, and in a quarter of an hour or so had the satisfaction of seeing a small calf pegging along in front of us. On approaching the little beast, it put on a spurt and began screaming lustily. This, I think, must IX PLUCKY ELEPHANT CALF 173 have brought the elephants to, as only a few hundred yards farther on we came up to them all standing. One of them, a splendid cow, brought her trunk round with a sweep, and trumpeted, probably to call the little calf, which was now behind us. As she did this, she offered me a splendid shot, for I was now within eighty yards, so I gave her a four- ounce bullet, which catching her just behind the shoulder, must, I think, have passed through her heart, and smashed her off-leg, as she came to the ground with a crash, and never rose again. At the shot the rest of the herd rushed away at a tremendous pace ; I had already had a good run on the spoor, and running in this heavy sand, and under a tropical sun, is no joke ; however, I managed to get pretty well up to them again, and gave the best cow I could see a ball on the hip. She at once left the herd, and followed by a good-sized calf, started off at a long swinging walk, that gave me all my work to keep up with. Another shot from behind, how- ever, slackened her pace considerably, and enabled me to pass her and give her a third shot in the shoulder. This I at once saw was a mortal wound, for the poor beast commenced to throw large quantities of blood from her trunk ; after standing under a tree for a short time, her limbs began to tremble, then she made a few steps backwards, and sinking on to her haunches, threw her trunk high in air, and rolled over on her side stone dead. The calf, which was quite large enough to pound one to a jelly, and had teeth protruding six inches beyond the lip, was now beside himself with rage, and with ears ex- tended, and trumpeting loudly, charged viciously at any one who approached within fifty yards of his dead mother. Once I let him come on to close quarters, 174 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. and then dashing a heavy assegai into his face, sprang past him at the same time. This feat, which after all required nothing but a little presence of mind and judgment, seemed greatly to astonish the Kafirs, who declared that " to-day have we seen that the white man's heart is hard." The assegai stuck fast in the thick part of his trunk ; however, he managed to twist the end of his trunk round the shaft, which he broke, though he first succeeded in extracting the blade, I then threw another assegai through his ear ; this he could not get rid of, and at last rushed away with it still dangling. I was very glad he had at last made up his mind to decamp, as it would have been a thousand pities to shoot such a plucky little beast, and I had really begun to think that I should be obliged to do so before I could take possession of his mother's carcase. Both these elephants were excessively fat, and the first I had shot had a beautiful pair of tusks, long, white, and without a crack, and weighing 17 lbs. apiece. Whilst we were engaged in chopping out the tusks, some Makuba Kafirs came up. They told me that whilst going down the river in their canoes, they had seen the two boys whom I had left in charge of my things sitting on the bank, who informed them that their master, a white man, was on elephant spoor. Soon afterwards they heard my shots, and in the hope of getting a little meat, at once started for the scene of action. When I told them that after my boys had cut off" what they wanted, they might take the two elephants in to to, their delight was unbounded. Long had it been, and long would it be again, I expect, before they would get such a gorge of fat meat. Two of them were in- stantly despatched to call the entire population of the village from which they hailed to help to cut up and IX A CANOE TRIP 175 carry the meat, and I feel sure that not one scrap of meat or bone of those two elephants was left to fatten the vultures or hyaenas. Upon questioning the men as to whether there were any elephants farther up the river, they in- formed me that about two days' journey to the west- ward, and not far from one of their towns, a large troop had been drinking for some time past, and offered to take me, my Kafirs, and all my belongings in their canoes to the town in question, in order that I might shoot them some more meat. Of course I was delighted at the idea, and on the following morning, five canoes having been told off for the accommodation of myself and party, I once more made a start up river. My two Bushmen, Hartebeest and Arotsy, walked along the bank, so as not to miss the spoor of any elephants that might have drunk during the night, but I went by canoe and enjoyed a delicious rest. I really did enjoy this canoe trip most thoroughly, and as we glided over the clear and rippling water, fanned by a cooling breeze and free from the persecution of the detestable "tsetse" flies, my mind recalled many a pleasant day spent in times gone by upon the quiet reaches of my dear old native Thames. Every now and then, however, a herd of graceful lechwe antelope, plunging through the shallow water, the blowing and bellowing of hippopotami, and now and then a hideous crocodile, lying like a log upon the sand, broke the association of ideas, and recalled the fact that many a mile of land and water lay between me and the old country. Late on Saturday afternoon we reached the Makuba village, for which we had been making. It was situated upon an island at a spot where the river opens out into a sort of marshy lake, and about 400 176 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. yards from the mainland. In the evenhig I shot a lechwe antelope, a young ram, and the first of this species I had yet bagged. This I gave to the villagers, who in return gave me some splendid fish, a sort of perch, just caught or speared. These fried in elephant's fat were delicious and a real treat. Shortly after dark we heard a black rhinoceros drinking on the mainland, and snorting violently every now and then. After a bit he retired and all was once more still ; not for long, however, for it was soon evident, from the splashing and occasional trumpeting, that a large herd of elephants were drinking and bathing themselves just opposite our island, and not 500 yards from us. The next day was Sunday, but believing that " the better the day, the better the deed," I followed the elephants, and came up to them about mid -day. There were no bulls amongst them, but some of the cows had fine long white tusks. Suffice it to say that I killed four of them, every scrap of meat and all the bones of which were carried by the Makubas to their island during the three following days. This meat was a godsend to these poor people, who, being refugees from the Barotse valley, had no corn, and were only eking out a precarious subsistence on fish, palm nuts, and some aquatic plants. The feasting and dancing that were carried on night after night as long as I remained here, vouched for the capacity of their stomachs, the lightness of their hearts, and the untiring vigour of their limbs — both legs and arms ; and I think that the advent of the fair-skinned stranger, who supplied them with such an abundance of meat, and what they prize above all earthly bless- ings, fat, will ever be remembered by them with feelings of unmitigated pleasure. IX RETURN TO "POOKOO FLATS" 177 On this island I remained for eight days, or rather I slept there, for every day I went either up or down the river to look for elephant spoor. However, I saw none. The troop out of which I had shot the four had made tracks for more secure retreats. In addition to the want of sport, too, the stench upon the little island was becoming unbearable, so on a Monday morning I once more packed up my traps, and made a start down the river, as I thought I should be more likely to find elephants, and bulls too, in the thick jungles near the mouth of the Chobe, than in the more open country farther west. On the fourth day I again reached the " Pookoo Flats " without having met with any elephant spoor whatever. Here I fell in with Henry Wall and Tofts, who told me that they had been to the waggons at Daka, and returned to this part of the country with my comrade Wood, who having found no elephants in the hills to the eastward of Daka, towards the river Gwai, where we had shot a great many the preceding year, had brought one of our waggons and the horses to a pan, situated about twenty miles to the south of the Chobe, and just beyond the range of the tsetse fly. As the waggon was so near, and I now had over 400 lbs. of ivory, which was just as much as my boys could carry, I resolved to proceed to the waggon, and getting a Bushman from Henry Wall to show me the way, I started on the following day, and reached Wood's camp late in the afternoon. The next day we were joined by Mr. and Captain Garden. They had shot two bulls since I last saw them, one a very fine one, whose tusks weighed nearly 70 lbs. apiece. Wood had also shot a splendid bull close to the v/aggon, only three days before my arrival. Here we remained N 178 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. ix for some time searching unsuccessfully for elephants, both on foot and horseback, so I made up my mind to return to the " Chobe," and if I found no elephants in the thick bush, to follow the course of the river very much farther westwards than I had done on my first trip. Single io-Bore Rift.e. L'scd by the Author from 1876 to 18S0. CHAPTER X Pookoo Antelope — ^Shootlng Lechwe — Up the Cliobe — Strange Experi- ence with Elephant — Canoe Trip through Marsh Lands ot Chobe — Buffalo — Island Inhabitants — Palm Wine — Situtunga Antelopes — " Umbaracarungwe " Island — Dense Thorn-bush. Thus, towards the end of August, I once more found myself on the southern bank of the Chobe, about twenty miles to the west of its junction with the Zambesi. It was dusk when we reached the river, and too dark to shoot anything that evening, although I wanted meat. Early the next morning, however, I knocked over a solitary old pookoo ram ; where- upon I called a halt, and my hungry Kafirs, lighting a fire, roasted and ate the greater portion of it on the spo't. As the name of pookoo probably conveys but a very slight idea to the majority of my readers, I will here say a few words about this, one of the least-known of all South African antelopes. The only place where I ever met with this species was in a small tract of country extending along the southern bank of the Chobe for about seventy miles westward from its junction with the Zambesi. They are never found at more than 200 or 300 yards from the river, and are usually to be seen cropping the short grass along the water's edge, or lying in the shade of the trees and bushes scattered over the alluvial flats which have been formed here and there by the 179 i8o A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. shitting ot the river's bed. That they exist, however, eastwards along the southern bank of the Zambesi as far as the Victoria Falls (about sixty miles from the mouth of the Chobe) I think probable, as I saw one shot on the very brink ; but, though I followed the river's bank all the way, I never met with another till I reached the Chobe. The natives report them common on the eastern bank of the Zambesi, north of Sesheke. From a plate in Dr. Livingstone's first book, I always imagined that the pookoo was found at the Lake Ngami ; but, as he makes no mention of it in the letterpress before reaching the Zambesi, and as neither Andersson nor Baldwin, who both visited the lake, seems to have known of its existence at all, this is perhaps erroneous. In size they stand about the same height at the shoulder as the impala, but, being much thicker-set and stouter- built, must weigh consicierably more. The colour is a uniform foxy red, the hair along the back about the loins being often long and curly ; the tips of the ears are black. The males alone bear horns, which are ringed to within three inches of the point, and curve forwards like those of the lechwe, to which animal they are very closely allied. The longest pair I have in my possession measure sixteen inches, which is about the extreme length they ever attain. These antelopes are usually met with in herds of from three or four to a dozen in number ; but on one of the alluvial flats to which I have before referred I have seen as many as fifty in one herd. Sometimes ten or a dozen rams may be seen together, or a solitary old fellow quite alone. I have often seen these antelopes feeding in company with a herd of impalas, and then their heavy thick-set forms contrasted strongly with the slim and graceful proportions of the latter animals. X HUNTING LECH WE ANTELOPES i8i The meat of the water-buck is usually considered to be more unpalatable than that of any other South African antelope ; but, if it will give any one satis- faction to know it, I can conscientiously say that that ot the pookoo is several shades worse. In conclusion, I have found that they and their congener the lechwe are wonderfully tenacious of life, and will run long distances after receiving wounds that one would think ought to be immediately fatal. But to resume. Breakfast over, we continued our journey west- wards, following the course of the river ; and about mid-day fell in with some natives, who had come across from the island on which their little village was situated to collect firewood. Two of these men I at once recognised as individuals who had taken me in their canoe to shoot lechwe buck during the preceding month, and on their asking me if I would not try my luck again (for on the former occasion I had been unsuccessful), I promptly accepted the invitation. After giving my own Kafirs directions to prepare a camp on a point of land a little farther on, I stepped into the canoe, and started for the flooded land on the other side of the river. On passing the little village, and our object being made known to the inhabitants, several men and boys jumped into their canoes and followed us, hoping to come in for a share of the meat, should I be successful in killing anything. The paddles were then laid aside, and the canoes propelled by means of long poles with a fork at the end, towards a bit of land about a mile distant, that rose slightly above the water's level. The average depth was about two feet, but in places it was so shallow that, there not being sufficient water to float the canoes, the natives had to get out and drag them along until it became 1 82 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. deep enough to punt. In most parts of this marsh the tops of the grass growing on the bottom rise above the surface of the water, so that it often presents the appearance of a huge grass -field, through which it is difficult to believe it possible to paddle a canoe, for miles and miles in every direction. Scattered all about are clumps of palm bushes, growing on what must once have been ant-heaps. We soon caught sight of several herds of lechwe bucks feeding out in the open marsh, and standing as they usually do, up to their bellies in water ; but they were excessively wild, and would not let us approach within 300 or 400 yards. At last we sighted a large herd feeding close to the edge of a long strip of dry land that rose slightly above the level of the water, and, by keeping the canoes in a line behind a large clump of palm bushes, managed to approach unperceived to within about 200 yards of it. Telling the natives to remain perfectly still, I pulled off my veltschoons and took my gun, and by the aid of the long grass managed to reach the edge of the dry ground, without exciting any suspicion amongst the lechwe. The grass being here very scanty, I had to lie quite flat, and crawl along Hke a snake, pushing my rifle in front of me. In this way I had advanced about fifty yards, when, on slightly raising my head to reconnoitre, I saw a fine old buck, with a beautiful pair of horns, staring steadily in my direction, and, as the wind was all right, I knew that he had made me out. I was within 1 50 yards of him ; so, rising quickly to a kneeling position, I took rather a full sight on his chest as he stood facing me with his head up, and fired. The bullet told loudly on him, and, as the X WOUND A LECHWE 183 rest of the herd bounded away, the stricken animal remained standing, with his head down and mouth open, and his tail held straight out. The herd, after running about 100 yards, turned and stood looking towards the wounded one, as it waiting for him ; so, hastily reloading, I ran towards them, hoping to secure another buck, for 1 felt sure the first 1 had fired at was done for. They allowed me to get within 150 yards, when some ewes began trotting away, followed by the rest in single file. Two splendid old rams stood nearest me, and, taking one of them just behind the shoulder as he turned to run, I fired, and heard the bullet strike distinctly ; but, in spite of it, he went off after the rest. The sound of the shot seemed to act as a tonic on the one first wounded, who at once started off at a great pace, skirting along the water ; so, telling the Kafirs to follow the other, I took a man and a boy with me and went after him. He soon took to the water, and made across a broad flooded valley towards a large extent of dry ground on the farther side. It was easy to follow him, even when not in sight, as, besides the bloody traces he left on the dry ground, the blades of grass that grew above the water were besprinkled with blood from his mouth and nostrils, so that I felt sure the bullet had passed through one of his lungs. Thinking the best plan would be to leave him to himself tor a bit, I turned back, and made all haste in the direction of the one 1 had wounded at the second shot, as I did not know exactly where I had hit him, and thought he might require another bullet. We soon found the spoor of the Kafirs following on the bloody tracks of the buck, and shortly afterwards perceived them wading towards us across a broad expanse of shallow water. 1 84 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. On coming up they reported that the wounded lechwe had left the herd and made for a branch of the river where the water was deep, across which he had swum, when they were forced to abandon the pursuit. As it would have taken a considerable time to get the canoes round to the spot where he had crossed this branch of the Chobe, and it being late, I reluctantly gave him up, and started back for the place where I had left the one first wounded. As I had anticipated, the loss of blood had soon told upon him, and we found him lying in a patch of grass, not far beyond where I had last seen him. When we were about thirty yards off, he sprang up and again made off, but had not gone many yards when I knocked him over with a bullet behind the shoulder. He was a beautiful animal, very thick-set and heavy, of a bright bay colour, with white belly and black points on the legs, and carried a lovely pair of horns, beautifully ringed, and curving well forward at the points. This being the first lechwe ram that ever fell to my rifle, I was much pleased at my success, and removed the skin of the head with the greatest care ; and then, it being too late to think of going after the other, I returned to camp for the night. The next morning I again went across to the marsh after the lechwe, and had the good fortune to shoot a magnificent specimen, the finest ram out of a very large herd. In the evening, after returning to camp, I shot two buffaloes out of a large herd that came down to drink a few hundred yards farther up the river. After consigning the heads and skins of the lechwe antelopes to the care of the natives, by the aid of whose canoes I had shot them, and dividing the X REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE 185 greater part of the meat of the two buffaloes amongst them, I again made a start up the river in search of elephants. I will here make an extract verbatim from my diary, written on the spot, and then give an account (explain it I cannot) of a very curious experience that happened to me : — " Monday^ August 24. — Shot two elephant cows. " Tuesday. — Went to chop out the tusks of the two elephants, but found that one had got up in the night and gone off. As I gave her two four-ounce bullets behind the head as she lay on the ground, I cannot understand it at all. I followed on the spoor till sundown to no purpose, and did not get back to the river till midnight, half dead from thirst." I will now give a fuller account of this incident. A little after mid-day we crossed the spoor of a large herd of elephant cows that had come down to the river to drink during the preceding night. As I knew, from former experience, that the elephants about here seldom stood except at long distances from the river, I did not for a moment imagine, it being already so late, that it would be worth while following them ; but, wishing to reconnoitre the neighbouring jungle, to see if there were much spoor about, I told my Kafirs to make a camp and dry the meat they were carrying, and then struck off into the forest, accompanied only by my two gun-carriers. Hellhound and Arotsy. Just along the river's bank ran a strip of very dense jungle, perhaps half a mile broad, beyond which was open grassy forest, inter- spersed with patches of thick bush. Shortly after emerging from this belt we again crossed the spoor (which I had not been following), and walked along it for a few hundred yards, when 1 86 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. we came to a spot where the elephants had evidently tarried a long time, as the soft sandy soil was dug into holes and ploughed up in all directions, no doubt in search of roots, I began to get interested, and regretted having left my best running Bushman behind. After following the spoor for half a mile or so farther, we again came to a place where they had routed up some hundred yards of ground, and from whence it seemed they had not long moved on. I now felt sure of coming up with them, and, in point of tact, atter tracking them for another hour in a semicircular course, I sighted, standing under some large trees, a small troop that had lagged behind the main body. Amongst these there were four good cows, and a lot of young things, ranging from the size of a pig upwards. As I looked at them, trying to pick out the best, a little calf kept endeavouring to insert its head between its mother's fore-legs and get at her breasts : she, however, pertinaciously warded off her thirsty offspring, and at last, losing all patience, gave the little animal a butt with her fore- head that sent it flying several yards. The finest elephant, carrying a pair of long white tusks, stood nearly facing me ; so, advancing cautiously to a tree about thirty vards from her, 1 took a sight on her chest, and aiming on one side of her trunk, fired. With a roar she turned, and crashed away with the rest at a tremendous pace ; seizing my second gun from the hands of Hellhound, who stood beside me, I gave another a good shot in the ribs, and followed on at my best speed. After going a hundred yards the cow first shot fell dead, the bullet having passed through her heart. My guns were by this time both reloaded ; so, calling on my attendants to keep close, I made a X ELEPHANT KNOCKED DOWN 187 spurt and got up to within fifty yards behind the elephants. The one I had wounded with the second shot showed no signs of flagging, nor, indeed, could I distinguish her amongst the others : so, pulHng up, I gave the biggest cow a shot straight from behind, about the hip, and a foot above the root of the tail, which brought her to the ground instantly, with all four legs sprawled out like a spread eagle. How- ever, she very soon picked herself up, and walked slowly forward, with her head raised and tail carried straight in the air. Thinking from her bearing she wanted to charge, I took the second gun, and running up noiselessly in the soft sand to within thirty yards of her, shouted, expecting her to turn and take a look at me preparatory to making a rush, which would have given me time to nip any such intention in the bud with a four-ounce bullet ; but on my shouting, to my very great astonishment, instead of turning she lowered her head and tail and went off at a great rate. Running out sideways, I gave her another bullet just behind the ribs, which only seemed to accelerate her pace. After this we had a long chase, very tiring in the hot sun and deep sand ; but not until I had given her two more bullets obliquely from behind did she show any signs of giving in. At last, however, she swerved from her course, enabling me to make a considerable cut, when I got a broadside shot at her which brought her down with a crash, leading me to think I had broken her shoulder. On going up to her, she commenced making the most violent struggles to rise, jerking up her head and swinging herself almost into a sitting position ; so, running round behind, and waiting till she fell back again flat on her side, I placed the muzzle of the 1 88 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. gun between her ears, within six inches of the back of her head, and fired, on which she lay perfectly still. Arotsy, one of my gun-carriers, now went behind her to cut off her tail, but on lifting it, finding it devoid of hairs (for the animal was old), he did not think it worth taking. My other gun- carrier remarking that she still kept opening her mouth, I took the gun from him and again fired another bullet into the back of her skull, close to its junction with the vertebras. This time I placed the muzzle within an inch of the skin, and the smoke from the powder came curling out of the hole in a thin blue wreath. I then sat down behind the dead animal's head (for dead I thought she surely must have been) for about a quarter of an hour, during which time she lay as still as the grave. So I left her, and went to the elephant first killed, and, as soon as my attendant had cut out the heart and inside fat, started for the river, reaching the camp, which was not more than two miles distant, about sundown. At first dawn next day we set off to chop out the two pairs of tusks, as I wished to push farther on up the river. We soon reached the first elephant, and, leaving three Kafirs with it, I went with the rest to the other one, and before long came to the place where I had left it the preceding evening ; but, to my surprise and horror, instead of the bulky carcase and long white tusks, I saw only its impress in the sand and a large pool of blood, which it had thrown out with its trunk as it lay on the ground. Though I could scarcely believe my eyes, the fact remained. The elephant, after having received five four-ounce bullets in the body and two in the back of the head, had got up in the night and gone off ! Truth is X "TSETSE" FLIES BY NIGHT 189 stranger than fiction, it is said, and certainly this anecdote of mine is very strange, and yet absolutely true in every detail. Little more remains to be said. I at once took the spoor, and followed it till the sun went down, and, could I but have got water, would have followed it for ten days more. When I relinquished the pursuit, we were many miles from the river, and (not having carried water) suffering from a thirst such as those only can appreciate who have walked during a long day in deep sand, under a blazing tropical sun. The forest being pretty open, and the moon about full, we got along well enough, and at last, about midnight, we struck the river at a point at least twelve miles from our camp, which we did not reach much before daylight. I think it is usually believed tsetse fly will not bite at night ; but along the Chobe river (where they swarm), and by moon- light, I can feelingly say that this is a mistake. They kept flying up from the ground on to my naked legs, and bit as furiously as in the daytime ; and, judging from the deep curses and loud slaps behind me, I had no doubt they were paying similar attentions to my Kafirs. My first care on reaching camp was to boil a pot of tea and roast a few slices of elephant's heart, after discussing which I wrapped myself in my kaross and slept till late the next day. In the afternoon, getting tired of sitting still, I again packed up my traps, and at sundown camped some ten or twelve miles farther up the river. On Thursday morning I had just shot a fine impala ram, which my Kafirs were in the act of skinning, when two canoes hove in sight, paddhng I90 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. rapidly in our direction, and a few minutes later their occupants were standing beside us. All four of these men I at once recognised, as they had followed me for meat during my preceding trip up the river in July. One of them had only one eye, the other, with the greater part of the flesh from that side of his face, having, according to him, been torn out, when a boy, by a hyasna. I should say he had not been a beauty to begin with, and his misfortune had certainly not added to his attractions. These men expressed themselves as very pleased to see me again, saying that all the people in the marsh were on the look-out for me, as they had finished the meat of the seven elephants I had shot them last month, and hoped I had now returned to again make them happy with a fresh abundance of fat flesh. After a few inquiries as to the whereabouts of the elephants, they informed me that there were some on an island far out in the marsh, to which they wished to take me ; and as nothing pleased me better than the prospect of penetrating into this interesting and unknown country, I at once acceded to their proposal, and agreed to wait where I was till the following day, when they promised to return with a sufficient number of canoes and men to carry my whole party and traps across the marsh. That night I retired to rest with a light heart, building all sorts of castles in the air. A troop of lions passed up the river soon after the moon rose, roaring magnificently, at one time being not a hundred yards from our camp. A little before noon the following day my one- eyed friend and his comrades arrived, bringing with them thirteen canoes, each manned by two natives. They said that to get to the island where the X BLACK RHINOCEROS SHOT 191 elephants were we should have to coast along the bank to a place they named (near which I had shot the four cows in the preceding month) before strik- ing out into the marsh ; so, distributing my Kafirs and baggage amongst them, we started. The canoe prepared for me was the largest of all, and in the centre of it were a mat and small wooden stool for me to sit on. After punting along for an hour or so, one of the Kafirs espied a black rhinoceros standing amongst some bushes close to the water's edge ; so, having as yet no meat for my large party, I at once landed with my elephant gun and walked up to him. When within about twenty yards the animal either saw or heard something, for, wheeling round with a snort, he faced us, holding his head high in the air ; the next instant a four-ounce ball, catching him in the throat and probably injuring his vertebrae, knocked him down, and he lay sprawling about, raising his head continually and beating it violently against the ground, whilst snort- ing loudly. Taking my small ten-bore rifle, I ran up, and watching my opportunity, put a ball just behind his ear, which, penetrating to his narrow brain, at once put a stop to his struggles. On examination, he proved to be a black rhinoceros bull, that is, one with the long prehensile lip, of the so-called variety R. keitloa. The horns, which I still have in my possession, measured 2 ft. i in. the anterior one, and i ft. 4 in. the posterior. He proved to be as lean as a crow, yet my hungry followers cut up and stowed away in their canoes every fraction of the meat in a marvellously short space of time. In the afternoon my boatmen paddled me cleverly behind a patch of reeds close up to a herd of 192 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. hippopotami, and, on one of them showing his head close to me, I fired, the bullet cracking loudly on his skull. On being struck he made a mad plunge forwards, bringing his fore-feet clean out of water, and then disappeared. Some of the natives said he was killed, and would come to the surface if I would only wait a little ; but I myself did not think so, for, if shot in the brain, they usually sink like a stone with- out any commotion. Yielding, howev^er, to their entreaties, I waited an hour or so, and then, nothing having appeared, we continued our journey. In the evening I shot a fine old wart hog, with large tusks. At daybreak we again embarked in our little fleet, still skirting along the shore of the marsh in a south- westerly direction. Where the main channel of the Chobe was, I did not know ; as far as we could see to the north and west, the whole country was a sheet of water, interspersed with islands, and intersected here and there by deep streams. There is always a cool breeze blowing across these watery wastes, even during the heat ot the day ; and then, again, one there escapes tsetse flies, which make life unendurable on the mainland — so that altogether I never enjoyed any part ot my wanderings so much as this canoe trip. In every direction, herds of the graceful lechwe, one of the handsomest of South African antelopes, were to be seen standing about in the shallow water ; but they were very shy, and would not allow the canoes to approach within shot. Wild-fowl, geese, duck, and teal, of many kinds abounded, and I noticed also several species of bitterns, egrets, ibises, and other water-loving birds that I had never seen before ; whilst my attention was constantly attracted by the shrill, plaintive cries of large white-headed ospreys, as they sailed in graceful circles overhead. X TWO BUFFALOES SHOT 193 We had scarcely left our camp half an hour, when, on rounding a point of land, I perceived, far ahead, a long, black line creeping slowly from the water's edge towards the jungle, which we soon made out to be a herd of buffaloes. The natives of course begged me to shoot a fat cow, and, as I wanted a good piece of meat for myself, I resolved to make the attempt. Before we had got anywhere near them, they had disappeared in the bush ; so, disembark- ing, 1 took the spoor and followed, when, just as I sighted them, they got my wind and made off. The bush, however, being thick, they did not go very fast, and kept continually stopping to look round, and after a short run I managed to kill a young bull and a nice fit cow, besides wounding an old fellow who seemed inclined to make himself disagreeable. On returning to the river with the meat, I found my fleet augmented by the arrival of three more canoes, whose owners said their town was on an island not far off, from whence, hearing my shots, they had at once come across, in the hope of finding that something had been killed, for a share of which they might come in. These men told me that in some thick beds of reeds near their town were some situtunga antelopes. This antelope, of which I shall have more to say later on, is the Tragelaplius Spekii of naturalists, and, like every other animal, is known by different names in different parts of the country. At Lake Ngami, for instance, it is called " nakong," on the lower Chobe situtunga and puvula, whilst on the upper Kafukwe river it is known by the name of " n'zoe," and at Lake Bengweolo, according to Dr. Livingstone, " n'zobe." As I longed to obtain a specimen of this rare and beautiful antelope, and as besides it was necessary the Kafirs should partially 0 194 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. dry the bufFalo meat before proceeding farther, I resolved to devote the rest of the day to then- pursuit. Promising my informants fat and meat in case of success, I started, telhng my two gun-carriers to follow meanwhile the spoor of the buffalo I had wounded, and despatch him, as I felt sure he could not have gone very far. A paddle of some two miles brought us to a small island, the residence of my guides. On this little patch of dry ground, not more than thirty yards square, and nowhere rising more than three feet above the level of the water, some seven or eight families of natives had made a temporary home. In the centre and highest part of the island they had cleared away the underwood, and erected a few flimsy sort of huts, made either of reeds or by stretching grass mats on poles. On my walking amongst them, clad solely in a coloured cotton shirt and an old felt hat, there was a wild stampede amongst the women, who, catching up their dusky offspring, rushed away, shrieking with fear, from the fair-skinned, bearded apparition. One of my guides, after shouting to them that I was harmless, brought me a small stool, neatly cut out of a solid block ot wood, on which I sat down at the foot of a small palm tree, and looked about me. Curiosity before long conquered all other feelings in the minds of the fair sex, and I was soon surrounded by the entire female and juvenile popula- tion of the encampment, who kept staring at me in the most embarrassing manner, laughing and pointing at me all the time, and making remarks, none of which, perhaps luckily for my feelings, I was able to understand. I was the first white man any of these women and children had ever seen, though some ot the men said they had seen Livingstone — whom they X PALM WINE 195 called " Ra-Monare " (Sir), when he passed through the Barotse valley some twenty years ago. Several of the women held out their babies to have a look at me ; but they must have previously told them that the devil was white, as the little imps, one and all, screamed in a most appalling manner and struggled to get away. After a while, one of my guides brought me a calabash of palm wine, the first 1 had ever seen, and a wooden bowl of palm nuts (very nasty). This wine is of a clear bluish colour, and tastes at the same time both sweet and acid : it is never drunk cold, but always first warmed over the fire, which removes a tendency it would otherwise have to make one sick. It is said to be very intoxicating,' but, though I drank a great deal, I never found it so. To collect the juice from which palm wine is made, little earthenware vessels are tied on to the stems of the trees, just below wounds purposely made in the bark, from which the sap trickles. As I looked round me I saw some of these ingenious contrivances attached to all the palm-trees on the island. The only food these people had, besides fish, was some very uninviting-looking stuff closely resembling saw- dust in appearance. This I found was made from the roots of the palm-tree, which are first roasted under the ashes, and then hammered, when this substance falls out from between the fibres. The description I have given applies to all the people I found living in the marsh of the Chobe during my visit in i 874. Through my interpreter I gathered that, being dissatisfied with the government of Sipopo, the paramount chief of the Barotse, they had fled from the Zambesi a few months previously, and, being without corn or any other sort of food, had lived 196 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. ever since on nothing but fish and palm roots, which accounted for the pains they took to show me elephants, the death of one of which bulky animals they knew would secure them an abundance of fat and meat, the favourite diet of an African at any time. All these natives possessed little prick-eared, jackal-looking dogs, which must have accommodated themselves to the fish diet of their masters. After spending an hour in examining the various contrivances of these people, I again embarked and paddled off in quest of situtunga antelopes. Much to my regret, however, both on this and subsequent occasions, my endeavours to obtain a specimen of this rare and beautiful water antelope were vain. They are only to be found in dense beds of reeds through which it is difficult to propel a canoe ; and even in districts where they are plentiful, one seldom meets with them. When approached (I speak from native report) they do not attempt to run away, but immersing their whole bodies — leaving only their noses and the tips of their horns above water — trust that they will be unobserved. In this way the natives paddle quite close, and spear them as they stand. The skins of these antelopes, many of which I saw, are of a uniform light greyish-brown colour, with very long fine hair, the horns of the males being about two feet in length, and of- a spiral form, like those of the koodoo, or, better still, the inyala of the south-east coast. The feet of this species are of an enormous length, which no doubt is a provision of nature to enable them to walk across the soft, boggy marsh land in which they live, in which an animal with a short hoof would assuredly sink. On my way back I shot a lechwe ewe, which I gave to my guides, and which they handed over to X SPEARING FISH 197 their womenfolk, amidst much clapping of hands and other manifestations of joy, and I have no doubt it proved the best meal the poor creatures had had for many a long day. Whilst returning to camp, my conductors speared two fine fish (a species of perch), which, fried in elephant's fat, formed a welcome addition to my supper. They throw these spears with considerable accuracy into the midst of a shoal — whose course is marked by the ripp")les on the surface — trusting to chance to impale something, and for every fish they bring to bag make, on an average, about a hundred casts. These spears are very ingeniously made, and are barbed in a fearful manner ; the small end of the shaft, which is long and tapering, is usually inserted into a hollow reed, which counterbalances the weight of the iron head, and floats to the top. My gun- carriers had, during my absence, followed and killed the buffalo bull I had wounded in the morning, so that there was an abundance of meat for all my numerous followers. Before daylight the next morning I stirred up the Kafirs, and set them to work to tie up the meat and get the canoes packed, and just as the sun was rising we were again under way. After skirting along the shore for some two hours, we reached the point where it was necessary to quit the mainland and strike across the marsh to the islands where I hoped to find elephants. As we advanced into the verdure-studded swamp, the long line of forest-covered sand-ridges that bounded it to the south grew gradually blue in the distance, and finally disappeared altogether. About two hours before sundown we reached a large island, where my guides wished me to pass the night ; so, concluding that they knew best, we at once went 198 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. ashore, and set to work to form a camp under some fine forest trees, about twenty yards from the water's edge. Towards evening I took my ten-bore rifle, and, accompanied by some natives, went for a stroll, hoping to fall in with a pig, or perhaps get a shot at a lechwe near the water. The soil of this island, which must have been several miles in circumference, consisted of fine white sand, into which one sank ankle-deep at every step. It was for the most part quite open, with patches of palm (growing principally round ant-heaps) and clumps of large forest trees scattered here and there. We had gone about a mile from camp without seeing anything, when we suddenly came upon a small troop of tsessebe antelopes, accompanied by one old blue wildebeest bull, feeding out in the middle of a large opening. Wishing to secure the tail of the wildebeest with which to keep off the tsetse flies, etc., I fired, but missed him. After reloading, I was again running on to try for another shot, when, looking to my right, I saw a black rhinoceros cow with a half-grown calf coming towards me. On this I relinquished the pursuit of the wildebeest, and resolved to try and bag the larger animal, regretting that I had not brought my big-bore elephant gun with me. The rhinoceros had evidently been disturbed by the shot, but did not know quite what to make of it. She was about 200 yards off, and coming straight on towards me at a quick walk, and turning uneasily from side to side at every few steps ; so 1 stood behind a little cluster of palm bushes and waited for her. She came steadily on, followed by her calf, until within about fifty yards, when she must have got a whifF of my wind ; for, wheeling suddenly, she started off at right angles at a quick trot. Taking her just behind the shoulder, I X MOSQUITOES AND FEVER 199 fired, on which she broke into a gallop, snorting loudly ; but, after running for a couple of hundred yards, she pulled up and sank down on to her knees stone dead, and I despatched the calf with another bullet. One of the Kafirs now instantly started at full speed for the camp, to call all the people to come and carry the meat. On examination this proved to be the common black rhinoceros of the interior {R. bicornis). Her anterior horn measured 21 in. in length, and the posterior 5 in. Before the sun was well down the air was filled with huge long-legged black mosquitoes, which attacked my legs and arms with a ferocity and perseverance worthy of a better cause, and forced me to beat a hasty retreat to camp, where I was able to escape from their attentions by sitting in the smoke of the wood fires (a very unpleasant alternative). These atrocious insects, and the risk of fever in its most malignant form, are the two drawbacks to a sojourn in these otherwise interesting swamps. The short winter was now over, and the nights were so hot that I could not bear a kaross over me, except towards morning ; yet, to protect myself from the mosquitoes, I was obliged to pile green wood on the fire, and arrange it so that the smoke blew over me in a thick cloud, which kept them off pretty effectually. During my absence quite a small army of fresh arrivals had joined my camp, all ot whom had come across in canoes from the various little islands where thev were living, in the hope of getting meat, so that 1 now had at least one hundred hungry mouths to feed. About an hour before noon the following day, after a pleasant voyage amongst some little gems of islands — several of them inhabited, and on many of which grew clusters of the tall, graceful palms — and 200 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. passing numberless herds of lechwe, that added hfe and beauty to the scene, we reached our goal, viz. two densely wooded islands, separated from one another by a narrow channel not' more than loo yards wide. The larger of these islands, called by the natives " Umbaracarungwe," is of considerable extent, and as far as my eye could reach I could trace the blue outline of the forest with which it was covered. The other, though considerably smaller than its neighbour, must yet have been fifteen niiles or so in circumference, and as I still had at least seven hours ot daylight, I determined to commence its exploration without delay. Stranding the entire fleet of canoes, and leaving some of the natives to form a camp (amongst them two of my own Makalakas, who had come with me from the Mata- bele country, and both of whom had got a touch of fever), I at once started, striking into the jungle so as to cut through to the farther side of the island, from whence I intended to skirt round its edge, out- side the bush, until I again reached the canoes. In this way I judged that I should cross the spoor of any elephants that might be there at the point where they had come down to the water to drink on the preceding night. On entering the jungle my heart sank. During my experience of elephant-hunting I had seen some nasty bits of bush, but never anything to be compared to this island fastness. The underwood, thick and thorny in itself, was interspersed with bushes covered with dense foliage — though at this season of the year everything on the mainland was leafless — and the whole was matted and woven together by the long branches of a low tree that I had never seen before, with smooth, soft, green bark and enormous thorns X LARGE PYTHON KILLED 201 about two inches in length, straight and sharp as a needle. Altogether, it was the most disagreeable place one could well imagine in which to fight a wounded elephant, and I had small hopes of meeting with much success. Before proceeding many yards we found traces of the handiwork of elephants, which had been here two days ago, and were perhaps still on the island. All round thejungle and between it and the water ran a margin of open ground varying from 10 to 100 yards in breadth, making the walking very easy. As we advanced we came across great quantities of buffalo spoor and the huge footprints of elephants, none of which latter were fresher than those we had noticed on the point of the island. Looking now to the north and west there were no more islands to be seen, but extending to the distant horizon stretched one unbroken bed of reeds, through which, say the natives, the main branch of the Chobe runs. We had made the circuit of perhaps two-thirds of the island, when one of my men caught sight of a large python lying under a bush, which, in company with some of his friends, he proceeded to attack. Before the huge reptile seemed to think of bestirring itself, a barbed spear was driven through its body just behind the head, pinning it to the ground, and almost at the same instant two or three more through different parts of its back. Another man then sawed its head off with a large broad-bladed assegai, and the other spears were withdrawn ; but the body still continued to writhe in a wonderful manner. This python was a female, measuring fifteen feet in length, and the natives, after removing the skin, which I bought, carried it entire to camp, as the meat and fat of these reptiles are considered by them to form a very choice dish. 202 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. We had just turned the corner of the last bay, at the farther extremity of which lay the canoes, when we sighted a large herd ot buffaloes feeding knee deep in the marsh about lOO yards from the shore ; so, it being necessary that I should keep my large party in good humour with an abundance of meat, I resolved if possible to shoot a fat cow. The animals were coming back towards the jungle, so I took up a position behind a bush and waited for them, and, as they advanced, fired at a cow, bringing her to the ground, bellowing. On this the herd turned and took to the water again ; but as they ran I fired with my second gun and made a lucky shot, breaking the spine of a young bull, and of course completely disabling him. I then ran up to the cow, which was struggling to rise, and finished her with another ball behind the ear, whilst the natives went in and des- patched the wounded bull with their assegais. The herd not seeming to like the open turned after going a short distance, and came back again at a gallop to- wards the jungle, seeing which I threaded my way along just within the edge of the bush and cut them off. When they were about fifty yards from me 1 shouted, on which they pulled up, and stood one and all with their noses raised, sniffing the air and gazing towards where I was hidden. Profiting by this pause, I took a quick aim at a fat cow and fired, tumbling her on to her head. At the shot the whole herd came on with a rush, not thinking of me, prob- ably, but wishing to gain the shelter of the bush, and to avoid being run over I had to throw down my gun and hastily ascend a small tree. After finishing the third buffalo, and cutting out its tongue, I walked on to the canoes, as I felt ready for supper. On my arrival my two Makalakas told me that PLATE VII 1. TsEssEBE Antelope S (Alcelaphus Lunatus). Shot near the river Daka, Oct. 13, 1877. 2. TsEssEBE Antelope 9 (Alcelaphus Lunatus). Shot in the Mashuna country, Sept. 22, 1880. 3. Lichtenstein's Hartebeest S (Alcelaphus Lichtensteinii). Shot on the Manica plateau, Dec. 22, 1877. 4. Lichtenstein's Hartebeest ,^ (Alcelaphus Lichtensteinii). Shot on the Manica plateau, Dec. 28, 1877. 5. Hartebeest $ (Alcelaphus Caama). Shot at Boatlanarina valley, Feb. 13, 1879. 6. Hartebeest S (Alcelaphus Caama). Shot near Selinya, Dec. 28, 1880. PLATE \'ll To face page 202. X A TROOP OF BULL ELEPHANTS 203 during the afternoon a troop of ten bull elephants had come out of the jungle on the other island at a point about 200 yards off, and after drinking and walking along the shore for a short distance again entered the bush. Fancy elephants in this age so little disturbed as to drink in the daytime, and what a glorious sight it must have been to see these gigantic animals walking in the open with their slow majestic step. But now I feared they must have heard the shots I had just fired, yet as the natives assured me that a gun had never before been fired on these islands, I still had hopes that, not knowing what it was, they might not have taken alarm, and in effect hearing one trumpet at no great distance soon after dark I felt sure that such was really the case, and had it not been for the mosquitoes, should have felt perfectly happy and contented. CHAPTER XI AcK'unturc with Elephants — Return to Mainland — Two Elephant- hunts — Ten killed — Schinderhutte ; Tragic End — Two Buffalo Bulls — Encounter with a Lioness — Return to Tati, and England. The next day was the ist of September, and as the sun, which in far-off England heralded the death of many a plump partridge, raised his fiery face above the eastern horizon I stepped into my crank. Makalolo canoe and was soon paddling over to Umbara- carungwe, the larger of the two islands, with great hopes ot soon making the acquaintance of the elephants. Instead of skirting the bush, I struck straight into the centre of the dense jungle, and had not advanced a mile when my Bushman Arotsy, who was in front looking for spoor, stopped and pointed silently to the ground, where, deeply impressed in the soft yielding sand, I saw the giant footprint of the mightiest beast that walks the earth — -an African bull elephant. We soon found that although they must have plainly heard the shots I had fired at the buffaloes the preceding evening they had utterly dis- regarded them, and had been feeding about in all directions ever since. This made their spoor very difficult to follow, and great caution was necessary to prevent their getting our wind and decamping quietly before we sighted them ; for although they had paid no attention to the report of a gun, all animals have 204 CH. XI AN UNKIND FATE 205 an instinctive aversion to the smell of man, and I felt that the merest whiff would make them run like the most experienced of their kind. The bush was frightfully thick, just as bad as that on the smaller island, with, however, here and there open places in which grew only a few camel-thorn trees (^Acacia giraffcf) ; but I thought that if 1 could only get well up to them I should be able to make sure of one, which was as much as I hoped for. After following several blind leads, taking the spoor of single elephants that had gone away feeding a short distance and then rejoined the herd, my Bushman suddenly gave a start and became rigid, with one arm pointing forwards, and there was little need to ask him what he saw. The elephants were about 100 yards to our right, on the edge of a good- sized opening, across which they had just walked. They were then standing still, four of them being quite outside the bush under a tree, off which one of them had just broken a large branch, so as the more easily to get at the tender shoots, from which the leaves were sprouting. One of these was a fine full-grown bull, with perfect tusks, which, though short, were very thick. They were standing most unfortunately as regarded the wind, and I feared they would scent us every instant. 1 would have retired and gone round them, but momentarily expected a puff of air, and so thought it better to try and get up to them without delay. Therefore, taking my gun, I at once advanced towards them across the open, trusting that they were too pre- occupied to notice me. But an unkind fate was against me ; even as I started I felt a puff of wind from behind, and simultaneously saw the trunks of the elephants slightly raised to catch the taint. It 2o6 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. was enough ; they did not stop to ask questions, but wheeled round towards the bush with marvellous despatch. Though I stood fast, and raised my gun the instant I saw the trunk of the big bull turned up, he was round before I could fire. I managed to put a bullet in just behind his ribs, which made him roar and sit back on his haunches ; before he could recover I seized my second gun from Hellhound, anci gave him another bullet in the hip, on which he jerked himself up, and rushed into the bush atter the rest. Calling to my two gun-carriers to load and follow, I ran on with Hartebeest (the best runner among my Bushmen) after them. They had cleared a broad path before them, and raised such a dust in the loose sand that it was impossible to see anything. How- ever, I trusted to the sagacity of my Bushman (a better servant in the hunting veldt I never saw), and, keeping his dusky form in view, dived through the thorny jungle close behind him. Suddenly he halted, and, looking forwards, I caught sight of the tops of the elephants' ears above the bush. They had come to the water's edge, and stood turning and looking about in all directions. My gun-carriers were nowhere in sight, and I did not dare call out, as the elephants would then have run on again, so I waited ; they, however, did not stand many seconds, but stepped out in single file across the open place to their right, swinging their trunks backwards and forwards. It was a bitter moment ; eight of them had passed broadside to me at not more than thirty yards' distance, and I was without a gun and dared not call. There were four old bulls, the rest being not quite full-grown. The tusks of all the old ones were rather short, but looked thick and heavy. The one I had first wounded was not amongst them, and had XI "BALECKA, SOREE ! " 207 probably turned out in the jungle behind. Thinking they had all passed, I now ran out into the opening, shouting with concentrated intensity, in company with my Bushman, " Leta imbopo ! " (Bring the gun), when another young bull, with long thin white tusks, emerged from the bush behind, and, catching sight of us, at once charged, trumpeting shrilly. " Balecka, soree ! " (Run away, sir), shouted the Bushman, and we made a dive back into the bush, each successive scream making me, at any rate, spring forward with wonderful energy. Our pursuer did not come far beyond the edge of the bush, but turned and went after his companions. My two gun-carriers now came up, and, running on the spoor, we presently sighted the elephants again, going at a quick walk through the jungle. I told Hartebeest to try and run round and head them towards me, hoping to get a good broadside shot as they passed ; but before he managed to do so, I myself got pretty well up on the near side, and gave two bulls each a good shot behind the shoulder. Had the country been tolerably open, I should probably have bagged them both, as, being close, I felt sure the bullets went somewhere near the right place ; but in such dense bush as" was this, it was impossible to do much, for an elephant bull, even when shot clean through the heart, does not fall at once, but will often run several hundred yards first. And neither do they always bleed externally, so that there is no guide as to which spoor one ought to take. At the shots there was a roar and a rushing and a crashing, a cloud of dust was raised, and everything had disappeared. I was just preparing to try and take up the spoor ot the wounded animals, when loud shouts ahead announced to me that the herd had run on to 2o8 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Hartebeest. Directly afterwards I saw three, a little to my right, coming back towards me, and stood fast, hoping to get a good chance as they passed. There were two young bulls in front, followed by an old one. The first two went by ; but the old fellow, either catching a glimpse of me, or more probably getting a whiff of my wind, spun round, raised his huge ears, and at once charged, but without screaming. I was ready, and put a ball into his chest below his raised trunk, which brought him to his knees ; he was up again in no time, and, turning, broke back into a terribly thick piece of jungle. However, I stuck close to him, and after a quarter of an hour's dodging, during which time I gave him two more bullets, he at last lurched forwards on to his head, and then rolled over sideways, stone dead. On cutting him up afterwards, we found that two out of the three bullets fired at him had passed through the top of his heart ! I now plunged into the bush again, to look for the blood spoor of the others I had wounded, but had not gone far when I perceived a young bull with nice white tusks coming along with his ears raised, and turning his head from side to side. Taking up a handful of sand to see which way the wind was, I placed myself so that he would pass close by without scenting me. As he walked past he offered a splendid shot, and, taking him just behind the shoulder, I pulled the trigger ; but the report was merely the puff of the powder alone, my gun-carrier in the hurry having put in no bullet. Imagine my disgust ! The elephant hearing the cap snap, at once rushed forwards, and v/e followed at our best pace on the spoor. When within ten yards of a patch of high, dense jungle. Hellhound turned with horror-struck look, saying, "Ee-aisa, soree ! " (He's coming this way. XI A MISSFIRE 209 sir). Seizing the gun, I Jet him get past me, and stood ready. I could hear the bushes rustling, and soon saw the tops switching, but nothing more. The next instant, however, the head of an elephant, with the immense ears outspread, and the little eyes twinkling wickedly, burst into sight ! He, too, saw me at the same moment, and, thinking no doubt that he had me, at once commenced to trumpet, having remained quiet until then — a sign he meant mischief. He held his trunk down, so that I could not get a shot at his chest, and cannot say that I took much of an aim at all, for there was no time ; but, getting the sight somewhere on his head, I fired, and then threw myself out sideways under the bushes. Looking round, I saw my antagonist retreating backwards with his trunk raised perpendicularly in the air, evidently stunned and dazed, but otherwise none the worse. He now walked to about fifteen yards from where I lay, and again stood, densely thick jungle intervening between us. I took my second gun (after noiselessly loading the one I had just fired) from Arotsy, who had stood fast behind me, and gave him a bullet through the bush. On receiving this attention he walked on, and after going a short distance, again stood, feeling about for the wind with his raised trunk. He now offered a splendid shot, as the bush between us, though thick, was low, and his whole shoulder was exposed. Covering him carefully, I pulled the trigger, but the only sound was the snapping of the cap, on which I bobbed down instantaneously. The elephant, hearing the click, spun round and stood with ears raised, looking towards whence the sound had proceeded ; but we all lay like hares, and, seeing nothing, he again walked on. Hastily putting on another cap, I then stood up, and, getting another p 2IO A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. beautiful broadside shot, I pulled the trigger, but again only the cap snapped.^ But this time the elephant spun round, and charged at once in the direction of the noise, trumpeting fearfully. I made a dive sideways, not daring to" run, as he would certainly have seen me. The huge beast luckily did not hit us off quite correctly, but came to a halt not ten yards away, turning from side to side, and testing the wind with the upturned end of his trunk. At last, to my intense relief, in which no doubt my two companions shared, he went off at a run. 1 now thought of giving him up, which I would not have done had not my gun played me false ; but at the instant hearing voices to my right, which I recognised as those of my own Makalakas, of whom I had seen and heard nothing during the hunt, shouting " Nansi, soree ! " (There he is, sir), I took my other gun and again went forwards. On crossing an opening I caught sight of my irascible friend going along just within the edge of the bush on the farther side. My Kafirs were shouting like fiends beyond him ; so, imagining the row would turn him, I skirted along the edge of the bush in the hope of cutting him off, but I never saw him again. He broke right through my line of beaters, and going to the water's edge, crossed over to the other island, and the canoes not being handy, I had to stop. I now tell in with the main body of my followers, who had carefully kept out of sight during the hunt. I told them I had killed one elephant, at which they seemed greatly delighted, and we at once set off 1 These missfires were probably owing to some minute piece of leaf or bark, or other foreign body, which, as I passed thi-ough the jungle, had fallen into the leathern powder sack slung at my side, and clioked up tlie bottom of the nipple, as, on pouring a few giains of powder into it from the outside, it at once ignited. XI A FALSE REPORT 211 together for the carcase, I then took my own Makalakas and Bushmen, and again struck into the jungle, hoping to come across one or other of the elephants I had wounded. But, though I spent several hours at it, it was in vain, for the whole jungle was trampled in all directions with spoor in such a way that my Bushmen could make nothing of it, and I finally gave it up and returned to the dead elephant. My naked legs and arms had suffered considerably from the thorns, one of which, that had been driven about an inch deep into the calf of my leg, I only extracted with the greatest difficulty. The major part of my shirt, too, had remained behind me on different bushes, and altogether I no doubt presented a very forlorn appearance. The marsh natives, having heard the elephant screaming, imagined that I had been actually caught and had only escaped by dodging his feet and creeping away between his hind legs. This story was handed from mouth to mouth until it reached some of the traders with Sipopo, who, going out of the country before they saw me, carried the report south with them ; so that when I again reacheci the Matabele country in the following December, all my friends congratulated me on my miraculous escape ! My first care was to go down to the canoes, which had all been brought round as close to the dead elephant as possible. Then I had a good bathe and wash, and after putting on a clean shirt and extract- ing most of the thorns from my legs, I felt myself again. By this time every fraction of the elephant, except the skull, skin, and vertebrae, had been brought down to the water-side. The huge bones, after being chopped into small pieces, were boiled in large pots, on which all the fat which is contained in their cellular structure was melted out and floated to the 2 12 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. top of the water. The trees around the camp were red with festoons of meat, and as the elephant was excessively fat (and a Kafir would sell his soul for that delicacy), there was great rejoicing and feasting that night throughout my bivouac. The tusks, I forgot to say, though short, were thick and heavy, weighing 52 lbs. each. Betore dawn next morning I was aroused by a great commotion and chattering, and on inquiring what the matter was, I learned through my interpreter that a messenger had arrived, bringing a report that an expedition sent out by Sipopo was approaching, to clear these marshes of inhabitants. I pooh-poohed the idea, and still believe the intelligence was false, for what booty could Sipopo expect to obtain from these wretched people ^ But a panic had seized them, and all argument was useless, and as I did not quite fancy being left without canoes on this island, there was no alternative but to pack up my traps and sub- mit to being again paddled back to the mainland. This was a great disappointment, as I had hoped to spend at least another week pottering about in the marsh. I have omitted to say that on this large island, and also on the one where I shot the buffaloes, I found great numbers of tsetse flies, though I saw none of these insects on any of the smaller islands I visited. Eleven canoes were told off to carry me, together with my servants and baggage, and all the rest went off' to see after the women and children. Nothing of any consequence occurred on the return journey, and late in the afternoon we again reached the mainland, after an absence of four days. That evening I camped at several hundred yards' distance from the river, in order to escape from the mosquitoes, which were now as numerous and troublesome along XI FINE ELAND SHOT 213 the water's edge as on any of the islands out in the marsh. On Thursday, September 3 — the day after my return to the mainland — my star was in the ascend- ant, as on it I shot five elephants out of one herd, besides a fine eland cow. The latter was one of a large herd that I came upon standing just by the water's edge on leaving my camp at first dawn of day. There was not a single bull amongst the lot, so, picking out a cow with nice long horns, I fired with my elephant gun, and breaking her neck, she fell on the spot in about a foot of water, so that we had to drag her several yards to dry land before we could cut her up. She proved to be a fine young cow in good condition, of the grey desert species, without a vestige of a stripe on her. Her horns, which were very fine, measured 33 inches in length, curving slightly outwards at the points. After cutting out her tongue, breast, and heart, and putting the horns in a tree, I gave the rest ot the meat to my canoe-men, who here left me. I then again followed the edge of the marsh — which trended nearly due south — accompanied only by my own Kafirs. About a mile farther on was a large shallow lagoon, separated from the marsh by a narrow strip of land, and there we found the spoor of a very large herd of elephants that had drunk during the night. The sun was scarcely an hour high, so putting down my baggage, and leaving two of my Makalakas, who were still suffering slightly from fever, to look after everything, I at once started in pursuit. Just within the goussy forest, which here extends almost to the water, the elephants had dug up at least an acre ot ground in search of roots, and I had good hopes of soon overtaking them ; but 2 14 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. as after this they had not again loitered, it was already late in the afternoon when we at last caught sight of them, and we had trudged over many a weary mile of deep sand since leaving the river. Though the sun was still intensely hot, I came up with them in an immense opening in the forest, devoid of any covert whatever, except that afforded by a few leafless mopani trees, scattered here and there, and some wretched little thorn bushes of the wait-a-bit variety, only three or four feet high. When I caught sight of the herd they were at least a mile off, and advancing slowly in dense black, masses, and after accurately ascertaining how the wind was by letting fall a handful of fine sand, I deemed it advisable to attack them from the other side. This was one of the largest herds of elephants I had ever seen ; I am afraid to say how many of them there were, but I think there must have been from loo to 200 at least. Excepting a few young bulls, easily distinguishable from their superior size, they were all cows and young animals. To my left I could see one fine young bull, with long white tusks, standing with some others round the stem of a solitary mopani tree, but to get at him I must have passed close to a lot of cows, across ground as bare as a board ; so, resolving to keep an eye on him, I turned my attention to a cow with long perfect ivory, that was directly facing me. About fifty yards from her were two or three slender mopani bushes, not sufficient to cover a rat, but it was all there was ; so, holding my gun before me with both hands, ready to be raised at a moment's notice, and crouching forwards, I advanced quickly. I was still some ten yards from the bush, when she saw me through it, and at once raised her head. XI LARGE HERD OF ELEPHANTS 215 spread her ears and looked, and the next moment, seeming to make me out, was just swinging round, when I gave her a bullet between the neck and the shoulder, bringing her to her knees. At the shot there was a tremendous commotion ; but the behaviour of this large body of elephants was very different from that of a small herd, which would instantly have rushed away in a wild panic. Those farthest off did not seem to know where the danger lay, and came running up towards me at a shambling sort of trot, many of the cows with their trunks high in the air, trumpeting shrilly and making a curious rumbling noise. Taking advantage of the confusion, I gave another young bull a shot behind the shoulder, and then hastily got the guns reloaded. By this time the elephants had organised themselves into bands, and were moving off in different directions in large troops, but not going very fast. The cow I had first shot now fell, and the young bull I saw was also done for. At this juncture Hartebeest outflanked the herd in which was the young bull I had seen standing under the mopani tree, and they all now came back right for me in a long line ; so much for me, indeed, that 1 had to make tracks hastily to get out of the way, as in this open country I did not dare approach within a hundred yards or so after the first robots. As the young bull passed me I aimed well forwards, and saw the dust fly from him just in the right place behind the shoulder. At the shot a cow came rushing down towards us, trumpeting loudly, with her trunk in the air ; but, not seeming to make us out, was just turning, when I gave her a ball with the second gun. After this I killed another cow with a single bullet, which went clean through her heart, and must have broken her 2i6 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. shoulder on the other side, for she fell as if struck by lightning, and never rose again. There were now two down and three wounded. The young bull I had just shot was standing not far off", and even as I turned to look at him he lurched backwards, throwing his trunk high in the air, and then fell on his side, and I knew his race was run. The larger bull and the wounded cow had both separated from the herd, but whereas the latter was following on the tracks of her companions, the former was walking slowly off by himself at right angles. On my getting up near him he turned, and raising his ears, stared at me, and I thought he meant to charge, but he was probably too far gone, poor brute. As he again turned I got a splendid chance at his shoulder, and gave him a fatal shot through the top of the heart, on receiving which he walked steadily forwards, and then fell with a crash on his broadside, his legs seeming to be swept from under him. The other elephants were by this time all out of sight, except the wounded cow, who was going off^ at a good pace in the distance. When I had got within a couple of hundred yards of her she was headed by some of my Kafirs, and, on their shouting, turned, and came walking back towards me. I stood where I was, just by an apology for a bush, thinking she would pass on one side or the other and give me a broadside shot, but on she came, nearer and nearer, till it was evident that she was heading exactly for where I was standing. When she was within forty yards Hellhound lost heart, and either ran or moved off^ backwards, and, on seeing him stir, the elephant, who, so long as we remained still, had not observed us, immediately raised her ears, and came on with uplifted trunk, screaming loudly. XI FINE TROOP OF GIRAFFES 217 However, I was ready, and planted a ball fair in her chest, when she stopped, and, turning, went off at right angles, holding her head high, but, before having gone a hundred yards, she suddenly fell dead, the last shot having pierced her heart. Thus ended one of the best days I ever had with elephants ; and, as regards numbers, quite the best up to that time, for never before had I shot more than four to my own gun out of one herd. The tusks of the two young bulls weighed 25 lbs. and 14 lbs. respectively, and the cow I first shot was particularly fine, her tusks weighing over 1 7 lbs. apiece. It was now much too late in the afternoon to think of chopping out the tusks, so having cut out the heart of one of the cows for myself, and the inside fat of all the five (this was soon done by sending two Kafirs to each elephant), we started for the river, and reached our camp near the lagoon about two hours after dark. Soon after leaving the dead elephants we sighted a fine troop of giraffes — one of the most beautiful ornaments of South African forests — and not long afterwards a large herd of elands (all cows) ; both these animals abound in this dry and sandy, yet thickly wooded country. On reaching camp I was surprised to see a dozen fires, and on coming up found about twenty of my canoe friends, who, either not believing in the reported raid of Sipopo or having trusted their goods and chattels to the care of friends, had again followed me for meat. Of this I was very glad, for I knew that now not a particle of the five elephants would be wasted, for these men would establish two camps, and carry meat and water backwards and 2i8 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. forwards until they had dried and brought every fraction, even to the bones, down to the river. After burying the tusks of the elephants under a large tree near the water's edge, which we could not fail to recognise on our return, I again pushed forwards, skirting along, the marsh in a southerly direction. Singular to say, the pookoo antelopes, which were so abundant some thirty miles farther back, had now entirely disappeared, though the char- acter of the country and the vegetation remained precisely the same in every particuhir. I cannot think of any reason to account for the curious local- isation of this species. Next day (September 6) we again kept on along the edge of the marsh, and saw much game — giraffe, elands, koodoos, impalas, blue wildebeests, tsessebes, wild pigs, and out in the marsh numberless lechwes. We also crossed some elephant and a few rhinoceros spoors, not very old, though these latter animals are rather scarce all along the Chobe. About two hours past mid-day, coming to some well-worn elephant paths with recent tracks upon them, leading to and from the water, I resolved to pass the night in their vicinity ; so, putting down the baggage, 1 left most of my Kafirs to form a camp, and then with the rest took a stroll forwards, to reconnoitre the land and pass away the time until sundown. We had not left the camp a mile behind when we espied the black massive forms of a herd of buffaloes lying asleep in the shade of some large goussy trees, just on the edge of the sand-belt, and not lOO yards from the water. As we passed they got our wind, and the whole herd, after running together and eyeing us for a few moments, turned and took themselves slowly off^, enveloped in a cloud of dust. A short XI FIVE BUFFALO BULLS 219 distance farther on, we came upon five old bulls feeding on the short young grass, beneath some tall acacia trees. So intent were they upon their occupa- tion that, although they were heading towards us, they seemed utterly unconscious of our presence. Motioning to my Kafirs _ to remain behind, I advanced noiselessly to a tree, certainly within twenty yards of the foremost, and then, standing clear of the trunk, I shouted out, " Halloa there ! " Listantly the five ponderous heads were raised, and five sets of eyes stared with a wondering, inquisitive sort of gaze at the unwonted intruder. Only for a few moments, though ; then, headed by a grey, almost hairless old fellow, they turned and went oft^ at a lumbering gallop into the adjacent bush. A mile or two farther on, we passed another enormous herd of these animals, lying, like the first we had seen, just on the slope of the sand-belt, where they had no doubt been sleeping during the intense heat of the day. This part of the country must have been utterly undisturbed by human beings for some time past, or buffaloes would never lie like this all day long, and in full view, so close to the water. As I had meat, and, moreover, feared lest a shot might disturb more valuable game, I did not think of molesting them, and reached camp again a little before sundown, jui:t in time to see three tall, graceful giraffes issue from the forest a little distance beyond, and stalk across the intervening flat, swishing their long tails to and fro, on their way down to the water. It is a curious sight to watch these long-legged animals drinking, and one that I have had several opportunities of enjoying. Though their necks are long, they are not sufficiently so to enable them to reach the water without straddling their legs wide 220 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. apart. In doing this, they sometimes place one foot in front, and the other as far back as possible, and then by a series of little jerks widen the distance between the two, until they succeed in getting their mouths down to the water ; sometimes they sprawl their legs out sideways in a similar manner. During the night no elephants came down to drink, as 1 had hoped they might do, by the paths near which we had camped ; so next morning I again pushed on, and made a good day's march. In the evening, being rather short of meat, I shot a tsessebe antelope, in very fine condition. Though the meat of these antelopes is tolerably good, the tat, like that of the wildebeest, turns hard, unless very hot, and sticks to the palate in a most disagreeable manner. The following day (September 8) was another red- letter day in my hunting annals, as on it I again shot five elephants out of one troop, all cows. I came up with them late in the afternoon, having followed the spoor since sunrise, in deep sand, and under a sweltering sun. We got them at last standing in a small patch of bush, though the surrounding forest was pretty open. On my firing at a fine cow, a number that I had not seen, and that, having been roused suddenly from a sound sleep, did not know exactly where the danger lay, came running down towards us from both sides. Our position at one moment seemed critical, and had any vicious old cow got our wind, she might have made it warm for us. As it was, our shouts at length turned them, and, my guns being reloaded, I broke the shoulder of one of them just as she was swinging round, and, on despatching her with a second bullet, saw, for the first time, that she had but a single tusk, which was, however, remarkably long and white. I then made XI KILLING WORK 221 all haste after the retreating herd, which, being large, did not go very fast, and after a severe run managed to kill three more, all full-grown animals, with fair tusks. My Bushman Hartebeest ran splendidly, and succeeded in heading a small herd away from the main body, and in turning them back towards me. Of these I killed two, and, had I not exhausted my stock of bullets — of which I only had seventeen to start with — I could without doubt have killed more, as we ran them regularly to a standstill. During the intensely hot weather in September and October, just before the rains fall, elephants soon become f^itigued if driven about and exposed to the fierce sun. When they get hot and tired they insert their trunks into their mouths and draw out water from their stomachs, which they dash over their breasts and shoulders to cool themselves ; and when the supply of water is exhausted they will sometimes throw sand over their bodies, which one would suppose would only make them hotter than they were before. Though, as I have said, elephants get knocked up comparatively soon when hunted during the hot weather, yet, as may be imagined, it is killing work following them on foot at that season, in deep sandy ground and under a tropical sun, and with nothing to drink but a very limited allowance of water carried in a gourd, which soon gets lukewarm from the intensity of the heat. Two of the cows just shot carried very fine ivory, and the single tusk of the second killed, which was almost straight, was exceptionally long, protruding nearly three feet beyond the lip ; it, had, however, a bad crack in it. I will take this opportunity of saying that when an elephant has only one tusk the bone on the other side is quite solid, and shows no 222 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. sign of a hollow where the fellow ought to be. It is far from uncommon to meet with one-tusked animals amongst elephant cows in South Africa, though rarer amongst the bulls. It seems dreadful to slaughter so many of these huge creatures merely for their tusks ; for, if there are no Bushmen or other natives about, the carcases are abandoned to the hyaenas and vultures. But /'/ faut vivre. Ivory is the only thing obtainable in this country with which to defray the heavy expenses of hunting ; and if you depend on your gun for a living, as was my case, it behoves you to do your best when you get a chance. It is true that within a week I had killed ten elephants ; but from this date (the 8th of September) until the 20th of November, though I was hunting continually the entire time, and tramped over an enormous extent of wild and utterly uninhabited country, I only saw one more of these animals (a young bull) in all that time. I mention these facts to show how much work an elephant- hunter has often to go through, taking it all in all, for each animal killed. Whilst following on the spoor of the elephants, I was surprised, upon issuing from a thick goussy forest, to find myself suddenly in face of a hill of considerable height. As this was the first hill of any sort or kind I had seen since leaving the Victoria Falls, and as it is certainly the only eminence within a radius of very many miles, I viewed it with great curiosity, and could I have afforded the time would certainly have ascended it. As it was, however, the spoor, after approaching pretty close to its foot, again led us away in a contrary direction. I after- wards heard from the marsh natives that their name for this hill is " Umgooloo." This is the same hill XI OSTRICHES, ZEBRAS, ANTELOPES 223 which Livingstone mentions by the name " Ngwa," and which is known to Khama's people at the present day as " Goh-ha." By the time that the last elephant was disposed of, and mv scattered followers had reassembled, it was late in the afternoon, and we were all of us terribly distressed for want of water ; so, as there was a moon, I resolved to wait for the cool of night to get back to the river. Although we had followed upon the spoor of our victims for a great distance, they had pursued a zig- zag course, so that we were not so far away from the marsh as I had imagined. Still, it was not much before midnight that our ears were at length greeted by the distant croaking of many thousands of frogs, and a ^QyN minutes later I was having calabashes of water poured over my head, and washing some of the dirt from my grimy person. By good luck we had hit off the marsh pretty close to our encampment, which we at length reached about half an hour afterwards. During the next two days, whilst most of my Kafirs were away chopping out the tusks of the five elephants, I took my two gun-carriers with me and examined the country farther on ahead. I found that just beyond my encampment the country between the marsh and the torcst-clad sand-belt opened out into an enormous alluvial flat, scattered over which were here and there patches of bush and clumps of tall acacia trees. After leaving the sand-belt and getting a good distance out into this flat in the direction of the marsh, the top of Mount Umgooloo at length appeared in the distance, rising higher and higher above the tree-tops as I proceeded. On this flat I saw several ostriches, and great numbers of zebras and tsessebe antelopes. 224 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. As with the ivory that I had previously buried I now had as much as my Kafirs could possibly carry, and as I was many days' journey distant from my waggons, I resolved to return thither at once with what I had, and then try my luck again amongst the mountains to the eastward of the Victoria Falls. So, on PViday, September ii, I made a start, and ultimately reached Daka (where my waggons were standing) on Saturday evening the 26th, after an absence of three months. On the last day, starting from Gazuma just at sunrise, I walked on ahead of my Kafirs, and, passing Pandamatenka about mid-day, at last reached the waggons a little before sundown, which, though I do not know the exact distance, I look upon as a very good day's work, as I carried my heavy elephant gun and the sun was intensely hot. My Kafirs, who were carrying heavy loads, did not arrive till late the following day. During my return journey I shot one more elephant (to which I have before referred), and several bufFaloes and antelopes for food. The death of two of these buffaloes is perhaps worthy of notice. Early one morning, as I was walking in front of my Kafirs, I espied two old bulls just ahead — the one lying down, and the other standing. As I wanted meat I at once made preparations to circum- vent them, so, taking my favourite elephant gun, and closely attended by Hellhound, who carried its fellow, I crept up to a bush within fifteen yards of the nearest, which was lying fast asleep, and at once rudely disturbed its slumbers with a four-ounce ball behind the shoulder. On receiving this mortal wound, the stricken animal rolled on to its back with all four legs high in the air, whilst its comrade, a hairless old brute, with horns worn down to mere XI SECOND VISIT TO VICTORIA FALLS 225 stumps, instead of running off, only wheeled round and looked at me in a way very suggestive of charging. But, if such were its intention, it was never acted upon, for with a bullet from my second gun I brought it bellowing to its knees. At the shot the one first wounded got on its legs again, and they then both ran together, and, after swaying backwards and forwards, fell alongside one another, so close indeed that in its death struggles the one kept kicking its dead comrade on the nose. One of these buffaloes had been fearfully lacerated and bitten about the neck and the tops of the shoulder- blades, only a short time previously, by a lion, which, however, it had evidently at last succeeded in beating off. The wounds smelt most offensively, and the meat of the shoulder-blades was quite green, and utterly uneatable. This old fellow would, no doubt, have been extremely vicious, and it was lucky that I made short work of him. Before proceeding on our way, my Kafirs dragged the carcases round, and left them with the noses touching, looking into one another's eyes, in which position the skulls and horns no doubt remain to this day. On my return to the waggons I found that the Gardens had already trekked out, and that George Wood was away hunting to the eastward. On Monday morning, after a full day's rest, the first I had had for several months, I again left the waggons, striking into the hills to the north-east of our camp, and then working my way down to the Victoria Falls. From the falls I walked back to Daka in two days, shooting and cutting up two zebras on the road. On this trip 1 saw no signs of elephants, nor was I more successful during the latter half of October. On the 2nd of November a large herd of Q 226 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. buffaloes came up the Daka river to within a few miles of our camp, thirteen of which we shot, Wood, whom I had met, killing seven, and I myself six. It must not be thought that these buffaloes were shot for sport, as we killed so many in order to dry a supply of meat for use along the road to Tati for ourselves, Kafirs, and dogs. Setting two Kafirs to each buffalo, we had all of them skinned and cut up, and although a good deal of the meat was rather high when we got it to the waggons, it was none the less palatable to the dogs and Kafirs on that account. At length, on the 8th of November, George Wood trekked out with the waggons along the regular caravan road, whilst I, taking my own Kafirs and Bushmen with me, and a few trading goods, started for Wankie's Town, which is situated about eighty miles to the east of the Victoria Falls, from which place I intended to cut right across country to Thamma-setsi, where I had arranged with my companion that he should wait for me with the waggons. This plan was carried out without any mishap, and I again reached the waggons on November 20, bringing with me over 300 lbs. of fine ivory that I had bought from Wankie. On my return journey I saw several enormous herds of buffaloes, and a good many rhinoceroses of both the black and white species, but not a single fresh elephant spoor. The following day we shot a black rhinoceros bull close to the waggons. Some days later, on reaching the Mitengue river, we met Mr. Schinderhutte, a man who had been many years trading and hunting in the interior, and was then on his way with a load of goods to Westbeech, at Pandamatenka. This was the third occasion upon which I had met Schinderhutte ; he was a fine, XI ' DRINK AND MURDER 227 handsome man, and I have been told, a very agree- able and well-informed one when he was sober. Some months later this man came to a dreadful end. He was again on his way to the Zambesi with two waggon-loads of goods, amongst which was a hogs- head of Cape brandy, to which he paid the most marked and unremitting attention, till at last he went half mad, and in a fit of delirium-tremens commenced shooting his oxen as they were trekking along. One day one of his Kafir servants demanded his payment, and on being told that his time was not up, became insolent, on which Schinderhutte, taking a loaded rifle from the side of the waggon, blew his brains out, the ill-fated Kafir falling dead alongside the fore-wheel. According to the account given by one of his drivers, this act seemed to sober him a little, and he never afterwards left the waggon with- out taking a loaded rifle with him. One day, however, he disappeared. Search was made for him the following morning, and some portion of his remains found, the rest having been eaten by the hyaenas. There is no doubt that he was killed by Makalakas and Bushmen in revenge for what was nothing more or less than the cold-blooded murder of their comrade, but the exact circumstances of the tragedy are not, and probably never will be, accurately known. The day after they had killed him, the natives looted the waggons, stealing all the guns, powder, sugar, etc. With Schinderhutte were my old friend Dorehill and Mr. Frank Oates, a most kind-hearted and amiable gentleman, and a great ornithologist, whom I had had the pleasure of meeting the preceding year in the Matabele country. They were on their way to the Zambesi, to see the falls and get a little 228 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. big game shooting. As the unhealthy season was just commencnig, I strongly urged them to put off their projected trip until the following winter. Dorehill yielded to my arguments, and returned with Wood and myself to Tati. Mr. Oates, however, decided to go on and risk it. He reached the falls safely, but soon afterwards was stricken down by the deadly fever, of which he ultimately died in the following February, close to the sources of the Tati river. On December 3, whilst trekking along the bank of the Tati river, and when about forty miles distant from the gold-mine, I at last shot my first lion. Many people may think it strange that I should have been so long — nearly three years — living almost entirely in the wilderness, in countries where lions were plentiful, and where I was continually hearing them at nights, and yet never have seen one ; but such is the case, and never since the three lions at Goqui in July 1872, until that day, had I seen another of these animals. Being nocturnal animals, and accustomed to lie asleep in beds of reeds and thick patches of bush during the daytime, it is mere chance work ever coming across them, especially in the " fly "-infested districts, where dogs cannot be used. On this occasion, as Dorehill and myself were riding along through a patch of bush, our ears were suddenly saluted with a muffled growling that we did not immediately interpret. The next instant, however, Hartebeest riashed forwards, pointing with his assegai, and shouting, " Isilouan ! isilouan ! " (Lions! lions!) I saw nothing, but galloped through the bush in the direction he pointed, Dorehill heading a little to the right. A few moments later, coming to a more open part, I saw two large lionesses trotting XI CHASED BY A LIONESS 229 along in front of me. Upon hearing me behind them, they both stopped, and standing broadside to me, turned their heads and looked towards me. Pulling in my horse, I jumped to the ground, upon which they started off again at a gallop. I fired at the hindermost one as she ran, and evidently struck her, for she threw up her tail and gave a loud growl. They now went into a patch of short mopani bush, beyond which the country was open forest, with no underwood. At first they trotted out into this open forest, but the wounded one not seeming to like it, turned, and squatting on the ground, crept back Hke a cat, with her shoulders above her back, and her eyes all the time fixed upon me, until she reached a little thorn bush, under which she stretched herself at full length, and lay watching me with her head couched on her outstretched paws. All this time the other lioness was standing in the open, and I was just going to dismount and fire at her, when, turning towards me, she trotted a few steps forwards, and then, throwing her tail two or three times straight into the air, came galloping forwards, growling savagely. Turning my horse's head I pressed him to his utmost speed, closely pursued by the lioness. I do not know how near she got, but her loud purring growls sounded unpleasantly close. As soon as the growling stopped, I knew she had given up the chase, and so rode round in a half-circle to get a view of her. She then trotted to a large mopani tree, in the shade of which she stood. When I rode to another tree about sixty yards off, she lowered her head and stood looking at me, snarling savagely, with her tail held straight in the air. I think that she had done her best to catch me, as her flanks were heaving like those of a tired dog, with the exertion 230 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. ot her run. Feeling sure that she would charge again as soon as she recovered her breath, I steadied myself and fired from the saddle, but missed her. She never took the slightest notice of the shot, but continued snarling and growling. Resting the butt ot my rifle (a single ten-bore muzzle-loader) on my toot, I now reloaded with all expedition, and fired again, the lioness all this time having preserved the same position, standing exactly facing me. This time I struck her right in the mouth, knocking out one of the lower canine teeth, breaking the lower jaw-bone, and injuring her neck. She fell to the shot instantly, and lay quite still. I thought she was dead, but took the precaution to reload before riding up to her. On dismounting and walking towards her, she raised herself on her fore-quarters, when I gave her a ball in the shoulder which effect- ually settled her. Dorehill now came up with the Kafirs. He had seen the other lions, a male and two females, for there were five altogether, but they had given him the slip in a patch of thick bush. We now went to look for the one I had first wounded, but though there was a little blood under the bush where she had been lying, we could discover no further trace of her, and the ground being very hard no sign of her spoor was visible, even to the keen eyes of the Bushmen. So, after skinning the one I had killed, which was in beautiful condition, we returned to the waggons. A few days later, on December iith, we reached the Tati, where we met with a warm welcome from Mr. Brown, the hospit- able trader, so well known for his kindness and courtesy to all who have travelled in the interior of South Africa. Here I found a bundle of letters trom home — the first I had received since leaving XI LETTERS FROM HOME 231 the Diamond Fields, nearly three years previously. Owing to news contained in these letters, I now determined to take a run home to England, and thus, on F'ebruary i, 1875, turned my face south- wards, and travelling through the Transvaal and Natal territories, reached Durban in April, where I embarked for the old country. List of Game shot from ^th June to ^th December 1874 Elephant . 2+ Brought forward 68 Rhinoceros (black) 5 Koodoo . (white) . + Sable Antelope Hippopotamus . I Roan Antelope Buffalo . 19 Tsesscbe . Giraffe 2 Water-buck Zebra (Burchell's) . 7 Lechwe . Wart Hog 4 Pookoo Lion I Impala Eland I Steinbuck Carry forward 68 r- fotal . 93 PART II CHAPTER XII Land at Algoa Bay, 1876 — The Giraffe and its Habits — Giraffe-hunts — Amandebele Marauders — Adventure with Lion — Narrow Escape — Westbeech the Trader — Chase after Gemsbuck — Horse killed by Lions ; wound the Male ; found dead by Bushmen soon after. On the 15th of March 1876 I once more landed at Algoa Bay and immediately set about organising another expedition to the interior. With the details of my journey from the coast I will not weary my readers. Suffice it to say that after four months' continuous travelling by bullock waggon I at length reached the Matabele country. At Kanye, near Secheli's, I met my old friend, Mr. Dorehill, who then joined company with me ; and, on arriving at Tati, we fell in with two EngHsh gentlemen, Lieutenant Grandy, R.N., and Mr. Horner, who had come up country on a hunting trip, and had only arrived a few days before ourselves. As it was now too late in the season to think of visiting any of the more distant hunting-grounds in search of elephants, either in the neighbourhood of the Zambesi, or in the Mashuna country, the four of us chummed together, and passed the remainder of the year in short hunting excursions up and down the Tati, Shashi, and Ramokwebani rivers. During the month of October Lieutenant Grandy and myself made an excursion to Gubulawayo, the capital of 235 236 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Lobengula's country, leaving our friends still hunting in the Tati district, where we rejoined them again in the beginning of November. During this period the chief object of our pursuit was the giraffe, about which I will here take the opportunity of saying a few words. This animal, though its range has been sadly reduced since the days of Gordon Gumming, is nevertheless still to be found in considerable numbers over a vast extent of country to the south of the Zambesi river. In parts of the Kalahari desert it is said to abound, and in all the dry sandy district between Bamangwato and Lake Ngami, and thence to the Mababe, Chobe, and Zambesi rivers, it is also very numerous. Along portions of the Botletlie river, and in the waterless but forest-clad sand-belts on the southern bank of the Chobe, it is particularly plentiful. In the country between the Chobe and the Zambesi the giraffe is also found, in the neighbourhood of Linyanti ; but is not nearly so numerous there as on the other side of the former river. Immediately north of the Zambesi it is unknown, though it appears to be plentiful in parts of Central and Eastern Africa. In some parts of the Matabele country it is also common, but until within the last few years was never found eastwards of the river Gwelo, though it was always very plentiful in the sand-belts to the westward of that river. This fact is the more curious since the soil, vegetation, and general appearance of the country are precisely similar on both sides of the river, which during a great portion of the year is only a succession of pools, and therefore does not offer the slightest obstacle to any animal desirous of crossing it. During the last three or four years a few giraffe have extended their range XII GIRAFFE-HUNTING 237 farther eastwards, and in 1880 there were a few on the upper Gwenia, and in the vicinity of Jomani. Up till then, however, none appeared to have crossed the Se-whoi-whoi river. The fact that the giraffe, like the gemsbuck and eland, is most common in portions of the country where water is usually very scarce, and sometimes altogether wanting, would seem to show that, like those animals, it can subsist for a considerable period without drink, and many people declare, indeed, that it never does drink. This, however, is erroneous, as upon many occasions I have myself seen it in the very act ; and a curious sight it is to watch these long-limbed brutes straddling out their fore-legs gradually, until their mouths reach the water. The giraffe is both fleet and enduring, and it is only a fairly good horse that can gallop clean past one. As, however, they seldom put out their full pace until hard pressed, they can be shot without much difficulty, even with a bad horse, by making him spurt up to within 100 yards or so of their sterns, and then dismounting quickly, giving them a bullet from behind just above the root of the tail. Owing to the shortness of their bodies any ordinary rifle will drive a bullet so placed right into the heart or lungs, and I have seen several giraffes killed in this manner by a single ball from a Martini-Henry carbine. As the chase of the giraffe is considered by many Englishmen who have distinguished them- selves in the hunting-grounds of Southern Africa to be the sport par excellence of the country, I will reproduce some notes from my diary about this period, bearing upon the subject. On the 2nd of November, the day after the return of Captain Grandy and myself to Tati, we sent over 238 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. a waggon to Ramokwebani drift, nineteen miles distant, following on horseback the next day. Our intention was to trek up and down the Ramokwebani river for a month or so, halting for a few days wherever we found good grass for our oxen, and game in sufficient quantities to keep our numerous retinue of native servants in meat. On the evening of our arrival Dorehill and I rode down the river to look for a head of game, and whilst pursuing two koodoo cows, suddenly saw a herd of seven giraffe in full flight about a quarter of a mile to our right. We at once left the animals we were pursuing to turn our attention to the nobler quarry, and gallop- ing obliquely towards them, soon began to lessen the distance between us. I was badly mounted, my horse being not only slow, but excessively lazy, requiring a constant application of spur and sjambok to keep him going. However, as I have said before, giraffes, if not hard pressed, do not go at a very great pace, so that before long we were within 100 yards of them. Even in the ardour of the chase, it struck me as a glorious sight to see these huge beasts dashing along in front, clattering over the stones, or bursting a passage through opposing bushes, their long, graceful necks stretcheci forwards, sometimes bent almost to the earth to avoid horizontal branches, and their bushy black tails twisted up over their backs. And how easily and with what little exertion they seemed to get over the ground with that long, sweeping stride of theirs ! Yet they were going at a great rate, for I felt that my old nag was doing his best, and I could not lessen the distance between us by an inch. I now saw that Dorehill was about to make a push, and as the horse he was riding was pretty fast, I knew that he would press them into a XII TWO GIRAFFES SHOT 239 much quicker pace, and leave me behind altogether : so reining in I jumped off, and taking as steady an aim as my arm, tired with flogging, would allow, fired at a large dark-coloured cow, that looked to me in good condition. The bullet clapped loudly, and I saw her stagger, but recovering immediately, she went on, though slightly in the rear of the others. At this moment my friend jumped off close behind them, and gave another cow a shot. 1 was now a long way behind, but my horse, though slow, possessed good staying powers, so that by dint of keeping on at a hard gallop, and cutting angles when I could, 1 again crept up, and gave my cow another shot, quickly followed by a third, which brought her to the ground with a crash. She was not yet dead, however, for as I approached she reared her lofty head once more, and gazed reproachfully at me with her large soft dark eyes. For the instant, I wished the shots unfired that had laid low this beautiful and inoffensive creature. But now the cries of my Kafirs and Masaras, following like famished wolves on the blood spoor, broke upon my ear ; so, stifling all remorseful feelings, I again raised my rifle and put an end to the miseries of my victim, whose head, pierced with a heavy bullet, fell with a thud upon the ground, never to be raised again. Leaving some of the boys to cut up the meat, I rode on with the rest to look for my friend, whom I found beside another prostrate giraffe which he had killed a little farther on. As the one I had shot was the fatter of the two, we left the Kafirs here and went back to mine. It was now late ; so hastily dividing the boys into two parties, and bidding them sleep by the two giraffes respectively, and cut them up and bring in the meat on the following day, we 240 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. ourselves started for the waggons with our gun- carriers, who also carried a few of the choicest portions of the meat. I may here remark that it is difficult to imagine anything more tasty and succulent than a steak off a young giraffe cow, when in good condition, though it may be that hunger, the sauce with which I have always eaten it, has something to do with this opinion. Whilst riding back to the waggons along the river bank, I shot a fine koodoo bull. On the afternoon of the following day, we inspanned the waggon, and trekked down the Ramokwebani. Dorehill rode on in front, and coming across two giraff^es on a large flat near the river, had a glorious run after them across the open, and galloping right past the one, killed the other, a young bull, on the edge of a little gully, close to which, and within twenty yards of the carcase, we outspanned for the night. Being now well supplied with meat, we resolved to shoot no more giraffe until it was all finished ; but on the following day, some Masaras coming to the waggons and begging us to kill some game for them, as they were hungry, we thought that we might again take the field with good consciences ; so, telling . them they must try and show us some big game, either eland, buffalo, or girafi^e, we saddled up and followed them forthwith. Crossing the river, they made straight for a range of hills running parallel with it ; and before we had proceeded very far, their sharp eyes detected in some hard ground the spoor of a herd of giraffe, which, on further inspection, turned out to be quite fresh. Whilst following it we put up a large snake, which we promptly despatched with sticks. It proved to xri " NOW FOR A RUN ! " 241 be a mamba, a poisonous species, and measured over ten feet in length. The giraffes had been feeding about in all directions, crossing and recrossing their own spoor continually, and it required all the skill of our crafty guides to get it away ; but they were hungry, and lightly indeed must the animal tread that a half-famished Masara will not track to its hiding-place. All at once they stopped short, and, pointing to the ground, pronounced the well-known word " Balegeelee ! " (They've run), and, glancing downwards, we saw, from the now deeply-cut hoof- marks, and the displaced sand, that such was indeed the case. The keen-scented animals had probably got wind of us, and of course made off. No time was to be lost ; so, taking our guns, we bade the Bushmen and our own boys run on the spoor. They at once went off at a good sharp pace, the two Masaras leading, and, after running for about a mile and a half, brought us down to the river again, which the giraffes had crossed. After toiling across the broad expanse of soft white sand, for there was not a drop of water within six feet of the surface, the Bushmen again took up the running, but had not proceeded far when they stopped short, at the same time crouching down and pointing eagerly forwards with their assegais. They had sighted the giraffes, as we ourselves did almost immediately afterwards. They were standing about 300 yards off, looking back towards us, seven in all, — four cows, two halt- grown calves, and a huge patriarchal old bull, whose lofty head towered high over those of his comrades. Beyond them the veldt was pretty open for about 1000 yards up to the edge of a mopani forest. " Now for a run ! " said Dorehill, and off" we R 242 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. went. For an instant the giraffes stared wonderingly towards us, and then, twisting up their long black tails, galloped away at a swinging pace. My friend, being mounted on a very fine horse, distanced me considerably, though I was able to keep close enough to enjoy a very fine view of the chase. The horse and his rider seemed to be straining every nerve, whilst the long sweeping stride of the giraffes gave one the idea that they were not exerting themselves to any great extent. Nevertheless they were doing their best, for, before they reached the bush, the gallant chestnut had borne his rider first level with and then clean past the old bull, who at once, swerv- ing to one side, went off at right angles ; and, just as the cows were gaining the shelter of the forest, Dorehill jumped off close behind them, and as the report of his rifle rang out, I heard the bullet clap loudly, and at the same time saw a dark-coloured cow throw out her legs spasmodically, evidently hard hit. Before my friend was in the saddle again I passed him, and my old horse, responding to my call and spurting gamely, soon brought me close up behind the giraffes. Hastily glancing through them, I noted the one just wounded by my companion, and then, picking out a light-coloured cow that I thought looked the fattest of the remaining five, I pushed close up alongside of her, and turned her away from the others ; but the bush being rather thick, it was some time before I could get a chance of a shot, though I stuck close to her. The bush through which the chase led consisted principally of large mopani trees growing pretty close together, and the judgment with which the giraffe, though going at a great pace, steered her course through them, breaking the smaller opposing branches, or gracefully bending xir A MARAUDING EXPEDITION 243 forward her long neck so as to pass beneath stouter ones that sometimes almost grazed her shoulder, was a most curious sight, though one to which I had Httle time to attend, as I had all my work cut out to find a path for myself At last we reached an opening in the forest, which gave me a chance of which I was not slow to take advantage. Springing off about fifty yards behind her, and just as she was gaining the bush on the farther side of the opening, I gave her a shot high up in the hip, which, entering obliquely, must have penetrated to her heart, for after receiving the wound she ran barely 100 yards, and then, standing still for a few moments, fell down backwards, stone dead. As soon as some of the Kafirs came up, I left them with the carcase and hastened to rejoin my friends, whom I found with the rest of the boys cutting up a very fat cow. After taking all the inside fat and the best parts of the meat for ourselves, we rode home to the waggons, leaving the remainder for the Bushmen, one of whom at once started off to fetch all his people. Early the following morning, whilst sitting at the waggons, we were surprised to see a long line of Kafirs approaching from the other side of the river. Their large ox-hide shields and short stabbing assegais at once announced them to be Amandebele on some marauding expedition. When within 100 yards of our camp, they halted, and a few of the headmen came up to the waggons, and, after first telling us a lot of ridiculous lies, at length admitted that they had been sent out by their chief, Lobengula, to murder any strange Bushmen or Kafirs whom they might find hunting in his veldt. Of course we said nothing about our friends the Masaras, for whom we had killed the giraffes, and who, I 244 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. fear, would have had but a sorry time of It had they chanced to fall into the hands of these ruthless murdering scoundrels, whose greatest happiness is to stab to death defenceless and unresisting women and children, and in whose vocabulary such words as pity or mercy find no place. After a prolonged parley, and when all the usual questions had been asked and answered — during which time our interlocutors had been eyeing with greedy looks the giraffe meat which was hanging in festoons from the neighbouring trees — they asked us to saddle up our horses and try to shoot something for their hungry followers, who, they averred, had been without food for two days. Glad to get quit of them so easily, we willingly agreed to do our best, and had the horses brought up forthwith. Suffice it to say that we shot that afternoon a solitary old giraffe bull, and on the following day three cows, all of which we gave to the Amandebele ; and then, breaking up our camp, trekked higher up the river. During the following fortnight we continued hunting on the upper course of the Ramokwebani, shooting several handsome specimens of the larger antelopes, and four buffaloes, which are about the last that have been shot in that part of the country. Towards the end of the month we crossed over to the river Tati, striking it about forty miles above the settlement. It was whilst we were here that I met with an afternoon's sport, of which I will now give an account. The two or three preceding days having been so rainy that we had been unable to do any hunting, we were out of meat, and our gang of about a dozen Kafirs and Bushmen consequently were making sad inroads into our stock of corn XII TSESSEBE ANTELOPE FAWNS 245 — a state of things to be remedied as soon as possible. The morning of the day of which I am speaking broke dull and rainy, and during the forenoon heavy showers kept continually falling. About two o'clock, however, the rain cleared off, and, although the sky still remained cloudy and overcast, I thought that 1 might venture out for an hour or two's ride without fear of a wetting ; so, calling for my horse — poor Bottle, whose untimely fate I will recount later on — I at once saddled up, and, taking a few boys with me, rode along the waggon-road which here follows the course of the river. We had not proceeded more than a mile before cutting the spoor of some five or six koodoo cows that seemed to have only just passed. The spoor being so fresh and, as the ground was soft and wet with the recent rain, very easy to follow, I took it, and in a short time sighted the koodoos, of which, after a short chase, I shot one, and, leaving the Kafirs to cut up the meat and carry it to the waggons, rode on by myself, not caring to turn back after having been out so short a time. I had ridden at a walk through the bush for about an hour, when I sighted a small herd of tsessebe antelope feeding quietly down an opening in the forest. With them were two young fawns, which, from their diminutive size, I judged to be but a few days old. Being anxious to catch a few young antelopes, and having several cows in milk at the waggons, I thought that this would be a good oppor- tunity, and anticipating but little difficulty in running down such tender-looking creatures, at once rode out into the open and gave chase. Never was erring mortal more deceived. The two little tsessebes, young though they were, ran every bit as fast as 246 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. the old ones ; indeed, sometimes when I made a spurt in the hope of cutting them off, they passed their dam at greyhound speed, and appeared in the van of the herd. At last, disgusted and disappointed, I pulled up in mercy to my horse, which I felt had had enough of it. After off-saddHng for a short time, I then rode in the direction of the waggon-road, and had just emerged from the bush upon a large opening, from whence I could see the line of dark thorn trees that marked the course of the river Tati, when my attention was attracted by something behind a bush about 300 yards distant, which looked very like the ears and horns of some animal gazing in my direction. Riding slowly forwards, my suspicions were soon confirmed, for a noble old roan antelope bull trotted out a few yards from the shelter of the bush, turned and stared at me for an instant, and then with a whisk of his tail cantered away, followed by about ten others that had been lying down behind the bushes, whilst the bull apparently kept on the look-out for danger. For an instant, thinking of the hard run my horse had just had, I hesitated whether or no to pursue ; but as Bottle on sighting the game cocked his ears, raised his head, and altogether seemed anxious for the sport, I deter- mined to have a short run and endeavour to secure a good head. Riding at a hand gallop, I was soon close behind them ; and as the bull that brought up the rear of the herd turned to see what was behind him, I jumped off", and gave him a shot just as he was galloping away. Before I could again get within shot they entered a patch of thick bush. Through this they went but slowly, and in an open glade just beyond the whole herd came to a halt and faced about, so that as I burst suddenly from the thick XII ROAN ANTELOPE SHOT 247 foliage in their rear 1 was close upon them. My sudden apparition of course caused a panic, and away they went again at top speed. I saw at a glance that the bull was not there, and thinking that he must have turned out or f;illen dead in the thick bush behind, gave a cow a shot as she galloped straight away, which, striking her just at the root of the tail, brought her to the ground at once, powerless in the hind-quarters. On riding up and dismounting to give her the coup de grace, she tried to drag herself towards me on her fore-legs, her eyes glaring like those of a wounded buffalo. She then made a loud squealing noise, when I put a term to her suffering with a bullet through the shoulders. As she had a very fair pair of horns, I cut off her head and hid it in a thick bushy tree, trusting that no harm would befall it before the Kafirs could fetch it when I sent for the meat next morning. Then breaking off a dry stake, and tying a large bunch of dry grass on the end of it, I stuck it into the ground alongside the carcase to keep off the vultures (this plan answers sometimes, though not always, but I know of no other that ever does, though I have heard of and tried many). Trusting to Providence on the score of lions and hyaenas, I now took the spoor backwards into the bush to look for the wounded bull, and see if there was any blood. I soon hit it off, and, finding a great deal of blood, followed it, not expecting that the wounded beast would go very far. After spoor- ing for about a mile the traces of blood became less and less frequent, and at length only a few drops appeared at long intervals. Still, as the ground was soft and damp the spoor was easy enough to follow, until after another mile or so I found myself among the tracks of the whole herd, that must have run 248 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. round in a half-circle in order to rejoin their wounded comrade. I now gave it up, the more especially as it was getting very late ; and although I knew I was close to the waggon-road, I did not know exactly how far I was from the waggons ; so, turning my horse's head, I rode straight for the river, about two miles distant. When within a few hundred yards of the bank the remains of an old cattle kraal, huts, etc., attracted my attention, as, from the position of several large thorn trees in the vicinity, I thought I recog- nised it as the spot where, two years before, I had passed two or three rainy days. With my thoughts thus engaged, I rode forwards at a slow walk, my eyes always hxed on the remains of the old huts, and was within about seventy yards of the kraal fence, when, glancing to the front, I saw, lying straight in my path, a small yellow thing, and as instantly as my eye fell upon it I knew that it was a lion, for I could see the yellowish eyes, and the lines from the corners of them, quite plainly. He was lying exactly facing me, with his head couched on his outstretched paws, on a piece of bare, sandy ground, and just between two little stunted wait-a-bit thorn bushes. So close, however, did he manage to squeeze his body against the ground, that I think, if it had not been for his eyes, I should have taken his head, pressed close down between his paws, for one of the little ant- heaps that one sees all over the country. Whether the dampness of the grass and bushes, which no doubt formed his usual lair along the river's edge, had caused him to come up to this dry patch of ground, or whether he had seen the horse approach- ing from afar, and was lying in wait for us with any dire intent, I cannot take upon myself to say. At any rate, there he was, not fifty yards off, straight XII MEET A LION 249 in my path, with his eyes intently fixed upon the advancing horse, and I did not stop to ascertain his intentions, but the instant I saw him pulled in and dismounted. As I lifted my rifle he just raised his head about six inches. Fear that he would bound away made me fire rather hurriedly ; but the roar that instantly followed the shot let me know that he had got the bullet somewhere. Owing to the dampness of the air, the smoke hung in such a manner that for several seconds I could see nothing of the lion, which kept up a loud and continuous roaring. But as it cleared off I saw him tumbling about on his head, with his right fore-leg swinging in the air. Before I could get another cartridge in my rifle, however, he recovered from the shock he had received, and shambled ofi-' into the thick wait-a-bit thorn bushes that skirted a deep gully just behind the old kraal. 1 must confess that I did not like exactly following him into this low thorny scrub, where one could not see ten yards ahead, alone and without dogs ; but, at the same time, I longed to possess his hide, and, moreover, thought 1 had given him a deadly wound, for as his fore-arm swung loose from the shoulder, I knew, from the position in which he was lying when I fired, that my bullet must just have grazed past his cheek, struck him on the point of the shoulder, and then, as I imagined, raked him, passing in all probability through one of his lungs. Leading my horse by the bridle, I now took the blood spoor, which followed the waggon-road into the gully, down whose bed it then turned towards the river, which was less than one hundred yards distant. The opposite bank of this gully being steep and high, I thought I should stand a better chance ot seeing 250 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. the lion by going along the top of it — at the same time taking him at an advantage — than by following the bed. So leading Bottle to the top, I there left him, and walked along the edge of the steep bank, holding my rifle in readiness, and keeping a sharp look-out on all sides. All at once, about thirty yards in front, I saw, just appearing above the edge of the bank, something that looked like the top of a lion's mane as it waved slightly in the wind. I was not left long in doubt, for suddenly a shaggy head was popped up just for a second ot time, and then both head and mane disappeared. Thinking he was still there, I got to a place from whence I could command a view of where I had just seen him, but on attaining it had the mortification to find that he had made off. The sight of me, instead of rousing him to resent the injury he had already received, had only decided him to decamp afresh. I now went down into the bed of the gully and again took up his spoor, which, after reaching the river's edge, turned into a patch of fearfully thick and thorny bush. I was peering through this and thinking it would be madness to crawl into it after a wounded lion, when with a hoarse growl the brute raised himself up not fifteen yards off, looked towards me, showed his teeth, and then, his heart again failing him, crept away with as much speed as his wounded state would allow. Although so near me, the thickness of the scrub rendered the chance of a successful shot so uncertain that I did not think it advisable to fire. Just then a heavy shower of rain commenced to fall, the sun, too, was all but down, so I thought it the wisest plan to ride back to the waggons and return on the following day with the dogs, feeling sure that the lion was so XII ROAN ANTELOPE SHOT 251 badly wounded that he would not be very far trom where I had lett him ; indeed, my chief fear was that he would die before morning and the hyasnas destroy the skin. Going back to my horse, that was still standing where I had left him, I at once mounted and rode along the track at a brisk canter towards the waggons. I was riding along thus, the rain coming down pretty sharply, when I saw, standing looking at me, not 100 yards from the road, a fine old roan antelope bull. Pulling in, I at once jumped to the ground, which decided him to decamp. Just as he turned, however, I fired, and saw by the rush he instantly made that he was hard hit. Jumping on my horse, I was soon hard upon his heels ; but he did not lead me far, falling dead before he had run 150 yards. He carried a fine head, which 1 instantly set to work to cut off. Then, once more remounting, and carrying the head before me across the saddle, I rode as fast as I could to the waggons, which I reached about half an hour after dark, in time to recount to my friends, over a rough but substantial dinner, the excellent afternoon's sport that I had met with, and my sanguine hopes of bagging the wounded lion on the following day. At dawn next morning we were stirring, and by sunrise were half-way to the spruit where 1 had last seen the lion, having left orders for the waggons to inspan and follow us at once. On reaching the spruit we off-saddled the horses, and, leaving a Kafir in charge of them, proceeded with the dogs and the rest of the Kafirs and Bushmen to look up the lion on foot. Though some heavy showers had fallen during the night, we were still able to get the spoor away through the patch of bush in which I had last 252 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. seen him ; and not fifty yards farther on the be- haviour of the dogs showed unmistakably that he was still close at hand. A regard for truth forbids me to pronounce a very glowing eulogium upon the courage displayed on this occasion by our mongrel pack. At the mere scent of the lion all but two rushed precipitately past us, not forwards, but back- wards, with their tails between their legs, some of them yelping with fright ; nor did they put in an appearance again until the hunt was over. Two veterans, however, an old dog half paralysed in the hind-quarters, and a one-eyed bitch, stood their ground, and, with the hair on end all along their backs, growled savagely. Even these two would not go far in front of us. Whilst poking about looking for the spoor we came to the place where the wounded beast had lain all night, and from which he must just have crawled away as we came up. He seemed to have lost a good deal of blood, and had champed and chewed every bit of stick within his reach. There was now no more difficulty about taking the spoor, as the footprint showed very plainly in the soft ground, wet and muddy with the night's rain ; but the bush being pretty thick and in leaf, we only advanced very cautiously, step by step, expecting every instant to see the lion. After pro- ceeding for some distance in this manner, it became evident to me that as we advanced so he constantly receded, creeping from bush to bush, so that we never could get a view of him, and I began to fear that this sort of thing might go on for an indefinite period. I therefore proposed to Horner that he and I should take up a position on some higher ground along the river, a httle on ahead of where I judged the lion to be, leaving our friends and the Kafirs to M f\A, ~f'% e5 XII FOLLOWING A WOUNDED LION 253 keep the spoor and drive him past us. We had not quite reached our post, however, when of a sudden he commenced to roar. At the same instant Grandy called out, " There he is — I see him," and fired, and then said, " That's hit him ; that's knocked him over." I at once ran down to him, and saw the lion lying crouched down, with his head under a horizontal willow branch. All this time he had kept up, without cessation, one continuous roaring. I had just raised my rifle to fire, when Horner, who was a little to my left, anticipated me. The lion at once ceased roaring, and disappeared over the bank amongst the overhanging willows. As the river was full, and running strong at the time, I did not think he would like to take the water, and ran along the bank to intercept him as he came up again. He soon did so, and, seeing me, I suppose, commenced to roar again. He was now, however, invisible in a patch of bush, but, as he never stopped roaring, I could tell his whereabouts pretty well. As he had shown himself so pusillanimous both on the previous evening and during the whole morning, knowing, too, that I had hurt him severely, and believing that Grandy had hit him too, I hardly expected he would charge, or I might have been more careful. As it was, however, I was peering about into the bush to try and catch sight of him, holding my rifle advanced in front of me, and on full cock, when I became aware that he was coming at me through the bush. The next instant out he burst. I was so close that I had not even time to take a sight, but, stepping a pace backwards, got the rifle to my shoulder, and, when his head was close upon the muzzle, pulled the trigger, and jumped to one side. The lion fell almost at my very feet, certainly not six 254 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. feet from the muzzle of the rifle. Grandy and Horner, who had a good view of the charge, say that he just dropped in his tracks when I fired, which I could not see for the smoke. One thing, however, I had time to notice, and that was that he did not come at me in bounds, but with a rush along the ground. Perhaps it was his broken shoulder that hindered him from springing, but for all that he came at a very great rate, and with his mouth open. Seeing him on the ground I thought that I must have shattered his skull and killed him, when, as we were advancing towards him, he stood up ag-ain. Dorehill at once fired with a Martini- Henry rifle, and shot him through the thigh. On this he fell down again, and, rolling over on to his side, lay gasping. We now went up to him, but, as he still continued to open his mouth, Horner gave him a shot in the head. I now examined my prize with great satisfaction. He was an average-sized lion, his pegged-out skin measuring lo ft. 3 in. from nose to tip of tail, sleek, and in fine condition, and his teeth long and perfect. Grandy and Horner must both have missed him when they first fired, as we could find no mark of their bullets on the skin ; so that when he charged, the only wound he had was the one I had given him on the previous evening. This bullet had merely smashed his shoulder-blade and lodged under the skin just behind it. The bullet with which I so luckily stopped him when charging, had struck him fair on the head, about half an inch above the right eye ; here it had cracked the skull, but, without penetrating, had glanced along the bone and come out behind the right ear. I believe that this shot must have given him con- cussion of the brain, and caused his death, and that XII GEORGE WESTBEECH 255 when he stood up after, it was merely a spasmodic action, for the shot that Dorehill gave him was only a flesh wound through the thighs, and the last shot that Horner gave him in the head as he lay on the ground had passed beneath the brain pan. By the time that I had skinned the lion, the waggons came up, and I then sent all the spare Kafirs to fetch the meat and head of the roan antelope cow that I had shot the preceding evening, telling them to take my horse's spoor backwards until they came to the dead animal. A little after mid-day they returned, telling us that they had found three lions at the carcase, or, to speak more correctly, at what had once been the carcase, for they had left but little of it, except bones. Thinking that the lions might still be there, Grandy, Horner, and myself at once saddled up and went to see ; but we had our ride for nothing, as the brutes had prudently retired, and we found nothing but vultures picking the bones they had left. They had also pulled the head out of the thick bushy tree in which I had hidden it, and quite spoiled it. During the two following days, Dorehill and I shot three roan antelopes and four giraffes, two of the latter very fat. We then stood over two days, drying the meat and rendering down the fat ; and on the following day inspanned and started for the settlement, which we reached on November 28, after an absence of just four weeks. Here for the first time I met Mr. George Westbeech, the well-known Zambesi trader, whom, curiously enough, I had never before seen, although upon several occasions during the last four years I had often been in his immediate neighbourhood. Mr. Westbeech is one of those many English and 256 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Scotch men whose innate love of enterprise, combined with indomitable perseverance, has led them to try their fortune in every unexplored corner of the globe, and it is the individual efforts of a host of such men in different parts of the world that have won for Great Britain the goodly share of the earth's surface which she at present possesses. This energetic Englishman first opened a trade with Sipopo, king of the Barotse, in 1871, and until the assassination of that potentate in 1876 yearly brought out from the Zambesi country from 20,000 to 30,000 lbs. of ivory. Since that time, the country having been in a state of anarchy, the trade has, of course, very much fallen off. In 1873 Mr. Westbeech visited the Barotse valley, where he remained as the guest of Sipopo until June 1874. He there met a Portuguese trader, Joao Ferreira, spoken of by Cameron, and is himself the Englishman " Georgo " referred to by him. On the I St of December, as it was necessary for me to fetch some property belonging to me that was lying on the Diamond Fields and get back again to the interior by the end of the rainy season, I bade adieu to my friends at Tati and trekked away to the south, following the main waggon-road leading to Bamangwato. I took both my waggons with me and three horses, and was accompanied by two Europeans — Mr. Edwin Miller, a young colonist and a first-rate game shot, who was in my service, and a Mr. Bell, who had made an unsuccessful trading trip to the Zambesi, and to whom I was now giving a passage to the Diamond Fields. On my journey down country and back again, which occupie4 the best part of five months, only one incident happened worth relating, and as the full account of xri GEMSBUCK HUNTING 257 this adventure, written upon the spot to my friend Mr. Alexander Brown, now lies before me, having been sent by him to help me to compile these journals, I think my best plan is to reproduce it just as I then worded it. Near Pelatsi, December 6, 1876. My dear Alick — To ease my distracted mind, I will now give you a full and particular account of what has befallen me during the last two days. At Goqui (let me not omit the one sweet drop in my cup of bitterness) I shot a fine old red hartebeest bull, a solitary old fellow. On Sunday night I slept about six miles on the Tati side of Serule, and finding a pan of water near at hand, remained there all Monday, trekking on again in the evening to Serule. Having ridden out on horseback as the waggons were travelling, I came across a family of Bushmen, one of whom, upon my questioning him, said he could surely show me gemsbuck on the following day, if I would remain at Serule and be guided by him. Of course I was only too glad to spend a day in such a pursuit, and so remained at Serule that night, the Bushman sleeping at the waggons. Next morning we made an early start, Miller riding the yellow nag, whilst I rode Bottle. I suppose we had ridden about six miles when we cut the fresh spoor of a herd of gemsbuck. The veldt was here very open, but the tracks led us into a sand-belt, which gradually grew thicker and thicker, till at last it became difficult to ride throucrh, even at a walk. Krom where the bush was densest, how- ever, they fed back again towards the open country, and at last, when about 300 yards from the edge of the bush, I saw a large animal that I knew was one of the gemsbuck make a dash past. s 258 A HtJNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Seizing my rifle, I rode after him, and saw another following the first. As I knew they were making for the open country, I just let them go at their own pace, and did not attempt to fire, thinking to make surer of my shot when we were out of the bush. They were two bulls, I think, with splendid tails and large black patches on the hind-quarters, and long shining black horns of at least the average length. They ran very nicely and smoothly, neither swerving to the right nor to the left, but holding a straight line, though going at a great pace. On reaching the open ground at the loot ol the sand- belt, one of them turned short off", and went away like the wind, making back for the bush again, so I held on after the other. I now pressed up to within about fifty yards, and springing off", believe I should in all human probabiHty have given the gemsbuck a good shot, as he was running straight from me, well within range, and there was not a bush between us ; but just as I was going to fire, Bottle ran right in front of the muzzle of mv rifle. I raised it at once, and was intending to put it back to half-cock, when he gave me a pull, and my finger being on the hair trigger, the gun went off" in the air. I did not think this would matter much, as there being more than a mile of flat before us, I imagined I could gallop up again in no time. However, I was mistaken, for after going a couple of hundred yards at a gallop, Bottle suddenly stopped dead in spite of all my spurring ; in fact, after never having once played me false during the last two months, he most un- expectedly, and just when I particularly wanted him to be on his best behaviour, resumed the tricks which he often used to play me when I first bought him, and of which I thought I had entirely broken XII MY HORSE PLAYS ME FALSE 259 him. The gemsbuck, having all this time been going at a hard gallop, was 500 yards ahead, when, by dint of spurring, I got my horse started again. Little by little 1 crept up to within 300 yards of the chase, when I felt that Bottle was again going to pull up. Wild with rage and mortification, I dropped the reins, and raising my heavy rifle above my head, and holding it just in front of the hammer, struck the poor beast with all my force between the ears. He tell in his tracks like an ox that is poleaxed, shooting me over his head — for he was still going pretty fast. After I had disengaged myself from him, he soon stood up, and I then, to my astonishment, saw that he had not turned a hair, there not being a drop of sweat upon him, except under the saddle, neither was he panting in the least. In fact, he had simply refused to run out of " pure cussedness," and lost me this, my first chance of killing a gemsbuck, and now heaven knows when I may get another. But now for the pith of my story. Riding back to Serule, I at once inspanned, and at ten o'clock p.m. outspanned a few miles short of Pelatsi. As the Bushman told me there were also gemsbuck about Pelatsi, and I wished to ride out to look for some on the following day, I did not tie Bottle up, but left him loose to feed round the waggons all night, as I had no corn to give him, and the Bushman declared there had been no lions about here for years. About 2.30 A.M. I was awakened by my boy January, who, in a stage whisper, announced to me : "Sir, daar's en ding op de paard" (Sir, there's a thing on the horse). Scarcely thinking it possible that it could be a lion, but yet not knowing what other thing could be "op de paard," I took my rifle and followed 26o A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. the boy along the oxen, which were tied up in the yoke. Miller went with me too, and advancing cautiously to the fore yoke, I could see the indistinct dark form of the horse lying stretched upon the ground about five-and-twenty yards off ; at the same instant, too, I heard a low grating growl, which let me know at once what the thing was that was on the horse. It was a cloudy, misty sort of night, but yet the light of the moon above seemed to pierce, and partially illumine, what would otherwise have been a pitchy darkness. As we advanced towards the horse, I saw two lions rise from behind it and make off, muttering curses upon our importunity as they went. Miller wanted to fire, but as their distinct forms were almost instantly lost in the gloom, I restrained him, as I thought a shot might frighten them away altogether, whereas if they were undisturbed they might return and remain by the carcase until daylight, when we might come to conclusions with them. Acting upon this, I returned to the waggon, and had not been there five minutes when I heard the lions at the carcase again. Taking our karosses, Miller and I now crept along the line of oxen, and lay flat on our bellies by the fore yoke, watching for about an hour. All this time the lions kept scrunching up the bones and tearing at the flesh of my dead horse with- out intermission, now and again grunting and growl- ing, seemingly over disputed pieces of meat, and all this time the oxen, the nearest of which was only twenty-three measured paces from the horse's fore- foot, kept quietly standing up and lying down, poking one another with their horns, or catching their legs in the " reims," ^ and the tore oxen kept ringing the ' " Reim " is the soft though raw-hide tliong used universally in Soutli Africa for tyino; up bullocks or horses. XII UNPLEASANT POSITION 261 bells which were tied round their necks. Like Daniel, they didn't care a bit for the lions, and the lions didn't care a bit for them. Now and a^ain I could see one of the lions rise from behind the horse, and placing its fore-paws on the carcase, raise its head and look towards us, its cocked ears being plainly visible against the sky-line ; then in a noiseless, ghostly manner it would seem to sink into the ground again. About ten yards to my right hand there was a little bush, a bit nearer to the lions, so I crept up to it without appearing to attract their attention. As I sat here I began to fear that, as day broke, and before it got light enough to see to shoot, they would decamp, and the idea struck me that it would be as well to creep up to a little bush that was about eight yards from the carcase — the wind being favourable — as I should then be so near that, even if I could not see the sight of my rifle, I should have been almost certain to hit one, had they showed any signs of decamping. Lying flat on my belly and pushing my rifle cautiously in front of me, I had advanced about six yards, and thought I had the little bush well between me and the lions, when suddenly the form of one seemed to rise from the earth, and with its fore-paws on the body of the dead horse, commenced looking intently towards me. I could now see the outline of the beast's shoulders, with the head surmounted by the rounded ears, quite distinctly, and levelling my rifle, was debating whether or not to fire, when with a loud growl she — for it was the lioness- — sprang away, and at the same moment I saw the indistinct outline of another rise from the carcase and follow her. Thinking that there were only two of them, and that I had made a mess of the whole business, I stood up, and was on the point of advancing towards the horse, 262 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. when a very nasty gurgling sort of growl arrested my footsteps, I could see nothing, but knew that a third lion was in my close vicinity, so, cocking my rifle, I held it with the muzzle advanced, and my finger on the trigger, ready for accidents. After standing thus tor a few seconds, straining every sense to try and discover the whereabouts of the lion, I sat down, and then edged gradually away to a little leafless bush a few yards to my right. There was now a sort of greyish light which rendered objects much more distin- guishable than they had been an hour previously, yet though I commanded a clear and unobstructed view of the dead horse, the outline of which was becoming plainer every instant, I could see no sign of the lion, though I knew he was not twenty yards away. It was now getting so light that I raised my rifle, and looking along the sights found that I could see pretty well, though the ivory foresight glimmered rather large in the nick. Another five minutes passed, and to me who had been watching since it was quite dark it seemed nearly light, I looked towards Miller and Bell, and saw them quite distinctly lying flat on their faces between the two spans of oxen, and then glanc- ing again towards the dead horse, my eyes suddenly became fixed upon the greenish-yellow eyes of the lion, which was lying between me and the horse, its tawny body pressed flat upon the yellow sand, and its great head couched upon its outstretched paws. For the last hour I must have been constantly overlooking it, for, as we afterwards found by actual measurement, there was only a space of twelve paces between us. The beast's eyes were concentrated upon me with a most unpleasant intensity, and I saw that his tail, with a fine black bunch at the end of it, was twitching from side to side with little nervous jerks. Well, 1 XI 1 THE LION ESCAPES 263 thought he meditated an attack. Very likely he didn't, but he really looked uncommonly disagreeable, and I was sitting in a cramped and awkward position to receive a charge, so, taking as good an aim as I could for the centre of his head, I fired. With a loud grunt he stood up on his hind legs and rolled over backwards, and for some seconds lay still. Before I could get another cartridge in, however, he regained his feet and made off after the other two (a lioness and a nearly full-grown cub), that we now saw rise from under a bush some 200 yards off. Miller did not fire until the lion had regained his legs, letting slip the golden opportunity when his ideas were deranged by my shot, and missing him, unfor- tunately, when he did fire. We now took up his spoor on foot. At first there was only a little blood, but after a bit the blotches became larger and more frequent, and seemed to be thrown from his mouth. I feel sure that I hit him right in the face, and fancy the bullet must have glanced from his lower jaw-bone, which in a lion is very solid. To make a long story short, we followed the spoor for several miles, and at last, as it appeared evident that the lion had not received a mortal wound, gave it up. I would have held on longer, but my bad leg became very painhil,' and the bush was in most parts too thick to follow a wounded lion on horseback ; so I at length returned to the waggon even more mortified at the loss of this lion than I was at that of the gemsbuck on the previous day. I have now made a skerm round the dead horse, and this evening shall set a gun, and then trek on about a mile and await the result ; but, successful 1 I had hurt my lc<,^ badly about a fortnight previously in a fall from my horse whilst chasing a giraffe, cracking the tibia so that some ot the serum ran out, and formed a lunip on tlie bone. 264 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. xii or unsuccessful, I shall resume my journey to-morrow. His wound, I am afraid, will prevent the lion from returning, but I confidently expect the lioness to put in an appearance. I made this morning two fatal errors. The first was endeavouring to get too close, for had I waited at the bush within twenty yards of the lions, 1 believe I could have had a quiet pot shot at them by daylight. The other was not to have saddled up the yellow horse. This I thought of, and was actually on the point of creeping back from the bush to give the order, when I thought that the possible benefit was not worth the risk of disturbing the lions. Here you have the whole story, and will I am sure be able to understand and appreciate my feeling of bitter disappointment. December "]tJi. — The lions did not return last night. Had I not wounded the male they no doubt would have done so. They may come to-night, but I cannot afford to wait any longer on the chance, for time is now precious. Thus, most disgracefully to me, has ended this little episode in my hunting career. I could bite my tongue and tear my hair with vexa- tion. However, the whole affair is past and done with now, so I must try and gradually recover my equanimity, which has not been so much disturbed by the loss of my horse — though that is no trifle — as by my failing to kill the lion. . . . Three months later, I learned from my friend Mr. Matthew Clarkson that the Bushmen had found my lion lying dead, a few days after I wounded it. They brought him the skin to buy, and told him that my bullet had broken the beast's lower jaw, and lodged in his neck. As lions are so few and f;ir between about that part of the country, I think there can be no doubt as to its identity. CHAPTER XIII Tlic South African Lion — Variation of Type — Habitats — Appearance — Colour — Habits — Average Size — Unclean Feeders — Dangerous Antagonists— A sad Story— Lioness attacks Camp by night — Horse wounded — Ruthven shot — Lioness killed — Shoot magnificent Lion and two Lionesses. All over the interior of South Africa, wherever game still exists in sufficient quantities to furnish them with food, lions are to be met v/ith, and are equally plentiful on the high, open downs of the Mashuna country, amongst the rough, broken hills, through which run many of the tributaries of the Zambesi, in the dense thorn-thickets to the west of the Gwai river, or in the marshy country in the neighbourhood of Linyanti. As, however, they are nocturnal in their habits, and usually lie asleep during the daytime, in beds of reeds, or in the midst of dense thickets, it is only by chance that one comes across them, even in parts of the country where, from hearing their voices at nights, and constantly seeing their spoor,there can be no doubt that they are plentiful. All the Dutch hunters in the interior, as well as many Europeans, who pretend to higher scientific attainments, say that there are at least three distinct species of lions in South Africa ; while some assert that there are four or even five. Their distinctions are all based upon the length and colour of the mane, the general colour 265 266 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. of the coat, the spots on the feet, and the comparative size of the animals. For my part, and judging from my own very limited experience of lions, I cannot see that there is any reason for supposing that more than one species exists, and as out of fifty male lion skins scarcely two will be found exactly alike in the colour and length of the mane, I think it would be as reason- able to suppose that there are twenty species as three. The fact is, that between the animal with hardly a vestige of a mane, and the far handsomer but much less common beast with a long flowing black mane, every possible intermediate variety may be found. This I say emphatically, after having seen a great many skins, and I entirely deny that three well- marked and constant varieties exist. On June 6, 1879, I came across two fine old male lions on the Mababe flat, lying together under the same bush, and shot them both. One was a fuU-maned lion with a very dark-coloured skin, the other a very light- coloured animal with scarcely any mane at all. In size they were as nearly as possible equal, the skins, when pegged out, measuring 10 feet 10 inches and 10 feet 9 inches respectively. A few months afterwards Mr. H. C. Collison and myself again came across two lions, the one dark-coloured, with a full, blackish mane, the other a yellow-looking animal with but little mane. A day or two later we shot two lion- esses. The one killed by my friend carried in her womb three cubs (two males and a female) that would probably have seen the light a few hours later. Of the two male cubs the one, owing to the dark colour of the tips of the hairs, was almost black, whilst the other was reddish yellow. The skin of the female cub was also of a light colour. Now, I firmly believe that the two male cubs would have XIII DIVERSITY OF TYPES 267 grown up, the one into a dark-skinned, black-maned lion, the other into a yellow lion with but little mane ; and further than this, I believe that the two pairs of males I have mentioned above were cubs of the same litters, and had been hunting in company since their cubhood. This is only surmise, but the Bushmen bore me out in my opinion, saying, when I told them what I thought, " Yes, that is true ; we knew them well ; they are children of one mother." How to account for the variation in the length and colour of the mane in different individual lions 1 do not know. The theory, that it depends upon the density and thorni- ness of the jungles they inhabit, which pulls out and destroys their manes to a greater or lesser extent, I do not consider tenable, as on the high open plateaus of the Matabele and Mashuna countries, where scarcely a thorn-bush is to be seen, lions of every variety as regards length and colour of mane are to be found, and the same variations also occur amongst those found in the neighbourhood of the Tati, where the country is for the most part covered with thick thorny jungles. I have never seen the skin of a wild lion with a mane equal in length to that attained by the greater part of the lions one sees in menageries. All wild lions with a full mane have two small tufts of hair, one on the elbow, and the other in the armpit ; but I never yet saw one with any long hair along the belly, between the forearm and the flank, as may be seen in almost all menagerie lions in this country. I do not say that cases do not occur of wild lions becoming equally hairy, but they must be very rare, otherwise I should have met with some amongst the large number of skins I have seen. The coat of the wild lion is very short and close, whilst that of lions kept in this country becomes very much 268 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. longer, and usually of a redder colour than the pale yellow or silvery-grey hue of the wild animal. I could pick out the skin of a menagerie lion from amongst a hundred wild ones. Climate and regular feeding must, I think, have a good deal to do with the luxuriant growth of mane almost invariably to be observed in lions in confinement. If these causes are not sufficient to account for the great difference which undoubtedly exists between the ordinary wild lion of Africa and his caged relative, I do not know what other suggestion to offer. Nothing can be more disappointing to the youthful sportsman, iresh from England, and accustomed to the full flowing manes of the lions in the gardens of the Zoological Society, or the representations of the wild animal to be seen in works on natural history or picture books, than to shoot him in his native haunts, and find him almost destitute of mane, for, after all, what is a lion without a mane but the shadow of the noble beast one has mentally pictured to oneself ? As regards the size of the South African lion, the following are the lengths of the pegged-out skins of six tull-grown males shot by myself, and carefully measured with a tape-line : — viz. lo feet 3 inches, 10 feet 6 inches, 10 feet 9 inches, 10 feet 10 inches, 9 feet 7 inches, and 11 teet i inch. These are the lengths of the skins after having been pegged out and stretched to a certain extent. How- ever, after having flayed it, I carefully measured the naked carcase of the largest lion. From the top of the front teeth to the end of the tail it measured 9 feet 7 inches, laying the tape along the curves of the body, and as all the gristle and meat of the nose had been cut away with the skin, and at least an inch must have been lost with the tuft at the end of the tail, I think it would have measured all but 10 feet XIII APPEARANCE OF WILD LIONS 269 before it was skinned, even without making any allowance for the mane. A lion shot one night in the cattle-kraal at Tati by Messrs. Brown and Doby in 1877, by the light of a lantern, weighed 376 lbs. My friend Brown told me that although it was a large lion it was in very low condition. The pegged- out skins of nine lionesses shot by myself measured from 8 feet 10 inches to 9 feet 7 inches. It has always appeared to me that the word '^majestic" is singularly inapplicable to the lion in its wild state, as when seen by daylight he always has a stealthy, furtive look that entirely does away with the idea of majesty. To look majestic a lion should hold his head high. This he seldom does. When walking he holds it low, lower than the line of his back, and it is only when he first becomes aware of the presence of man that he sometimes raises his head and takes a look at the intruder, usually lowering it immediately, and trotting away with a growl. When at bay, standing with open mouth and glaring eyes, holding his head low between his shoulders, and keeping up a continuous low growling, twitching his tail the while from side to side, no animal can look more unpleasant than a lion ; but there is even then nothing majestic or noble in his appearance. When a lion jerks his tail two or three times in quick succession straight into the air, look out, for such a demonstration is almost always followed by a charge, though this preliminary is not always gone through betore charging. From my own observa- tion, I should say that lionesses usually give birth to three cubs ; but, from some cause or other, many appear to die when very young. In the interior of South Africa one more commonly meets with four or five lions consorting together than with 270 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. single animals, parties of ten or twelve being not uncommon. A party of twelve lions would probably consist of say two males, three or four full-grown females, and half a dozen large cubs, which, except that they are slighter built, would appear, if not very closely looked at, to be almost as large as full-grown lionesses. In July 1880 I came one day upon a lion, three full- grown lionesses, and three small cubs. Now, if each of these lionesses had had a couple of large cubs, tlTe whole party would have formed what one would be justified in talking of as a troop of ten lions. As to the character of the lion, I myself consider him to be a far more dangerous animal to meddle with than any other in South Africa. However, I write this under correction, as I have only killed sixteen lions to my own rifle, which is not a sufficient number upon which to base one's verdict as to the general disposition of an animal. That more accidents have happened in encounters with buffaloes than with lions is not that the former is a more dangerous animal than the latter, but because, for every lion that has been killed in the interior (within my own experience at any rate), at least fifty buffaloes have been brought to bag. Hunting lions with dogs usually reduces the danger to a minimum, as the beast's attention is, as a general rule, so occupied with the yelping pack that sur- rounds him, that he pays no attention to his more formidable enemies ; it sometimes happens, however, that he dashes straight through the dogs at his human adversary. If mounted, too, the hunter's skin is often saved by the fleetness of his horse ; for, except in forest which is too thick to allow one to gallop at full speed, or where the soil is deep, soft sand, I do not think an average lion can overtake an average XIII METHODS OF KILLING PREY 271 horse. If on foot, however, and without dogs, though there is httle danger in attacking lions, in the first instance, yet to follow up a wounded one is very ticklish work, especially in long grass or thick cover, for there is probably no animal of its size in the world that can conceal itself behind so slight a screen, or rush upon its pursuer with such light- ning-like rapidity. I have never seen a lion bound ; they always appeared to me to come along like a dog at a clumsy-looking gallop, though they get over the ground at a great pace. From what I have seen, I do not think that lions have any fixed way of killing game, but believe they employ different tactics against different animals. I have seen a horse, a young elephant, a sable and a roan antelope, killed by a bite in the throat, which must have caused death either by dividing the jugular vein or by strangulation. I have seen, too, a horse and several zebras killed by bites on the back of the neck behind the head. Buffaloes are, I fancy, sometimes killed by dislocation of the neck, which is done by the lion springing on to their shoulders and then seizing their noses with one paw, giving the neck a sudden wrench. I have seen and shot numbers of buffaloes that, after having been terribly bitten and scratched by lions about the neck and on the tops of the shoulder-blades, have finally made their e!i;cape. I have never met with an instance of a lion carrying an animal that it has killed ; and, as far as I know, their invariable practice is to drag the carcase along the ground, holding it the while by the back of the neck. This they do with even the smallest antelopes, such as the impala, and I do not think that a South African lion would be capable of lifting such a heavy beast as a bullock from the ground, as the North African species is said 272 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. to do, much less of springing over a high fence with one. The fact that one does not hear of regular man-eating lions, that for a long period have been constantly in the habit of preying upon human beings, as is the case with tigers in India, is due, I fancy, not to the difference in the nature of the animals, but to the superior boldness of the African natives over those of India, for even amongst the least martial tribes of South Africa, if two or three people are killed by a lion, the population of the surrounciing country is roused, and a party being formed, the lion is usually surrounded and stabbed to death with assegais ; whilst, amongst such warlike tribes as the Matabele, if a lion only kills an ox, or even a goat, its fate is usually sealed, or even if not killed, it gets such a scare that it is glad to quit the district. Such a thing as a man-eater, or even an habitual cattle- slayer, would never be tolerated for an instant. Nevertheless, many natives are killed every year in those parts of the country where lions are plentiful. In 1875, five lions came up the Inquisi river, and killed four Matabele women working in their maize- fields not far from the town. The next day the whole male population turned out, and following up the lions killed four of them, one making good its escape. In 1876, a Kafir boy who was herding my friend Mr. Brown's goats at Tati was seized, killed, and eaten by a lioness, as he was returning home with his charge one afternoon, and when only a few hundred yards from and within sight of the houses. The next day my friend and all the whites who were then at Tati turned out and hunted up the lioness. She was found close to where she had killed the boy, and shot by Hendrick Viljoen (a son of old Jan Viljoen). The teeth of this lioness were worn down XIII MAN-EATING LIONS 273 to mere stumps, and there is no doubt that the infirmities of old age, and the lack of strength requisite to catch and kill wild animals, had driven her to attack a human being. In 1879, '^•'lother case occurred at Tati of a man being killed by a lion, which I will here relate as I heard it from my friends Messrs. Brown and Phillips. A young Matabele warrior belonging to the Imbezo regiment having fled from the harsh rule of Lobengula, was on his way to join Kuruman, a chief living in the Rustenburg district of the Transvaal, and claiming to be the eldest son of Umziligazi, and the true heir to the Matabele throne. He was accompanied in his flight by the girl of his choice, who was, like him- self, a true Matabele of pure Zulu blood. Upon reaching Tati, he did not go to the houses, as he feared to meet other Matabele, who might recognise him as a fugitive, but crossed the river which runs below them at a distance of about 200 yards. In the evening, leaving the girl concealed amongst the bushes on the farther bank of the river, he went and explained his circumstances to Mr. Brown, who gave him some food. It happened that my friend was upon the point of making a journey to the Transvaal, and had his waggon ready loaded up for an early start the following morning. Seeing this, the fugitive begged to be allowed to accompany him as far as Bamangwato, and his request being granted, he tied his shield on to the waggon, and saying he would join my friend the following moriiing along the road, recrossed the river. About midnight the half-dozen white men who were then at Tati were awakened by loud shrieks and wails of "Mai-mamo ! mai-milmo!" (The lion has taken my man ! the lion has killed my man !) Rushing out to see what was the matter, T 274 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. they found the poor girl, minus all the small amount of clothing which usually formed her full dress, sob- bing and wailing pitifully. Her story was this — " When my man returned with the food and pot which the white men gave him, we made a small fire and cooked and ate it, and then lay down to sleep in the shelter of a bush. We had only a very small fire, as we were afraid to make a larger one for fear of attracting attention. I was cold and did not sleep, but my man slept. When the night was very black I saw an animal prowling round us. Starting up, I shook my man, crying out, ' Awake ! awake ! here is a hyaena.' At the same instant the beast rushed upon us, and seizing my man by the head, dragged him away. I still thought it was a hya?na, and seizing my man's knobkerry, rushed after him into the darkness. My man never cried out nor spoke. When I was close upon the beast that I still thought was a hyasna, I saw by its size and the long hair on its head and shoulders that it was a lion. Then my heart died, and I did not strike it, but, dropping the knobkerry, ran through the river and up to the white men's houses ; and it was only when I got close to them that I was able to cry out." The next morn- ing Messrs. Brown, Phillips, Walsh, Dr. Bradshaw, and a few Boers that were there, followed up the lion, and shot it close to the remains of the unfortunate man. The bereaved girl returned to her friends in the Matabele country, and last year I heard that one of the king's brothers had taken her to wife. A popular error concerning the lion is that it is a very clean feeder, and never eats the flesh of any animal that it has not killed itself. The South African lion is often a very foul feeder, and according to my ex- perience, prefers eating game that has been killed by XIII FOUL FEEDERS 275 man, to taking the trouble of catching an animal for itself. Often when elephants have been shot, lions will prey upon the stinking carcases as they lie fester- ing in the rays of a tropical sun and at last become a seething mass of maggots, returning night after night to the feast, until no more meat is left. This occurs in parts ol the country abounding in game, where it would give a party of lions but little trouble or exertion to catch a zebra, buffalo, or antelope, and procure themselves a meal of fresh meat. In the same way, no matter how plentiful game may be, lions will almost invariably feast upon any dead animal left by the hunter, from a buffalo to a steinbuck, that they happen to come across. In eating the carcase of a large animal, lions always either tear open the belly near the navel and first eat the entrails, liver, etc., or else commence near the anus and eat the meat of the hind-quarters. They often pull out the entrails, and rolling them into a heap near the carcase, cover them over with earth and sand, no doubt for the purpose of preserving them from the vultures, which they know' will visit the carcase during the day- time. At night they return and unearth and eat the dinner they have taken such pains to preserve. I suspect that this is only done in places where lions are liable to be interfered with by man, and do not dare to lie during the day close to their kill, as is their usual custom ; but I have met with instances of it on three different occasions. When lions are met with in the daytime they almost invariably retreat before the presence of man, even when disturbed at the carcase ot an animal which they have just killed, and when they are presumably hungry. If pursued or wounded, however, they may be expected to charge, and, ceteris paribus^ I have found in my small 276 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. experience that a far larger proportion of them do charge than of any other animal in Southern Africa with which I am acquainted ; and as their powers of concealing themselves, and their quickness anci agility in attack, are far greater than in the elephant, buffalo, or rhinoceros, I pronounce them to be more dangerous animals to meddle with than any of these. As with men and all other animals, individual lions differ so much in disposition one from another that it is im- possible to tell from one's experience ot one what the next is likely to do, and I do not consider that any man has a right to say that lions are cowardly beasts, because the two or three that he has shot have not happened to show fight, but have perhaps exhibited great pusillanimity. At night, and when urged on by hunger, lions are sometimes incredibly daring ; in fact, as old Jan Viljoen once said to me, " A hungry lion is a true devil, and fears nothing in this world." In illustration of the audacity and perseverance some- times displayed by lions when desperate from hunger, I will give a short account of some incidents that occurred at our camp near the Umfule river on the nights of June 30 and July i, 1880. Having formed a camp on the banks of a small stream, a tributary of the Umfule river, Messrs. Jameson, Collison, and myself went away on the 30th of June to the north-east in search of elephants, leaving Dr. Crook, a gentleman who had accompanied Mr. Jameson from the Diamond Fields, and who was not a very ardent sportsman, in charge of the encampment. Besides Dr. Crook, there remained at the waggons a young colonist, Ruthven by name, in Mr. Jameson's employ, a lot of colonial coloured drivers who were going away hunting in the " fly " country on the following day, and at least twenty XIII FIND OUR CAMP DESERTED 277 Matabele Kafirs. The camp was arranged thus : — In the centre stood our four waggons, parallel with one another, enough space being allowed to admit of the horses being tied between them. In front of the waggons was our cattle-kraal, containing nearly sixty oxen, made very high and strong ; whilst surround- ing both the kraal and the waggons, and leaving the latter standing in an open space about sixty yards in diameter, was a second strong, high fence. At in- tervals round the inside of this fence, and of course within the space, the different parties of Kafirs had made their sleeping-places, each party keeping up one or two fires, so that the whole camp must have pre- sented a very animated appearance. On the evening of the 8th of July we returned home, and were surprised to find our camp deserted. Riding into the enclosure we found a cross, and the letters R. R. deeply cut on the stem of a tree that grew on one side of the kraal, and at its foot a newly-made grave. Full of conjecture as to what these evidences of disaster might signify, we at once galloped along the broad track lett by our four waggons, and half an hour later found them standing on the bank of the Umfule itself, where Dr. Crook had made a new encampment. In answer to our inquiries we learned the following story. In the dead of night of the very day on which we left the waggons, every one was awakened by the shrieking of Mr. Jameson's pet baboon, " Susan," that was fastened just in front ot one of the waggons, and at the same time a horse was heard struggling between the waggons. Ruthven and a Bamangwato boy named Buckram rushed forwards to see what was the matter, and found old " Jordan," one of Mr. Jameson's horses, struggling in the clutches of a lion. 278 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. Upon their shouting and waving their blankets, the beast left the horse and made good its retreat in the darkness. Jordan, though badly bitten on the back of the neck just behind the head, and scratched about the throat, had not sustained any very material injury, but the wounds would not heal up, and eight months afterwards, when I last saw him, they were still sloughing. After this the fires were kept up, and nothing further occurred to disturb the peace. The following morning Dr. Crook found the hole in the fence through which the lioness had crept. Here he set two guns with strings tied on their triggers and brought across the gap in the fence in such a way that if the lioness were to return by the same path during the coming night she would in all probability shoot herself. When evening came, Ruthven and two colonial boys (waggon drivers) did not turn in, but sat up round a fire, hoping to get a shot at the lioness should she return and make an attack from another c^uarter. It was ten o'clock by the doctor's watch when old Umzobo, a Matabele man, who was in charge of my property whilst I was away hunting, and who was at that moment sitting by a fire along- side of my waggon, said to a young Kafir near him, " Blow up the fire, I hear something moving outside the fence." The boy was in the act of doing as he had been told, and the fire was just blazing up, when the honess suddenly appeared in their midst and seized old Umzobo from in front by the leg, making her teeth meet behind the shin-bones. With great presence of mind, the old fellow forced his hands into her mouth one on each side, when she let go and seized Impewan, another Kafir of mine, by the fleshy part of the buttock, just as he was preparing to make tracks. Feeling an unpleasant sensation xiii DEATH OF RUTHVEN 279 behind, he instinctively put his hand there, when the lioness, quitting her first hold, instantly seized it, and was dragging him awav into the darkness, the poor fellow all the while shrieking with terror and agony, when Ruthven fired. The shot frightened the lioness, and she released Impewan and disappeared in the darkness. Immediately after Ruthven fired, two other shots fell in quick succession. Dr. Crook, awakened by the growling of the lioness, the shriek- ing of the Kafirs, and the reports of the rifles, jumped out of the waggon and ran to see what had happened. At the fire where Ruthven had been sitting he found Norris, one of the coloured drivers, crying over a prostrate figure, which upon turning over he found to be poor young Ruthven with halt his head blown off. How this untoward accident happened will never be exactly known, but there is no doubt that it was owing to one or other of the drivers losing their wits at the sudden and alarming nature of the disturbance, and pulling off their guns at random. 1 think myself, that Ruthven must have been sitting down when he fired, and that he then stood up suddenly, bringing his head close to the muzzle of one of their guns. He fell dead, poor fellow, with his head in the fire. Having restored some sort of order amongst the panic-stricken Kafirs, dressed the wounds of those that had been bitten, and covered poor Ruthven's body with a blanket, Dr. Crook again turned in. At twelve o'clock one of the set guns went off, but no other sound broke the stillness of the night. At 2 a.m. the other gun went off, and the Kafirs all said they heard a low groan at the same time. As may be imagined, no one slept during the remainder of this eventful night. At daylight the doctor, hearing cries of " Gwasa ! Gwasa ! " (" Stab 28o A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. her ! Stab her ! "), went out and found that the lioness, that had thrice returned to the attack, had met her fate at last, and lay dead before the muzzle of the second gun, and just at the gap in the fence through which she had entered the encampment on the first night. The bullet had passed right through her heart. The first gun had not injured her, and could not have been properly set. This lioness was apparently in the prime of life, with a good coat and fine long teeth ; she was, however, very thin, and had nothing in her stomach, and no doubt was desperate from hunger. The following day Dr. Crook buried poor Ruthven, and then moved the camp to the Umfule, where, as I have related, we found him. About a fortnight after these events had occurred, I myself had a very lucky encounter with a family of lions, which I do not think it will be out of place to relate here. Mr. Collison and myself were riding along one evening accompanied by a lot of Mashunas, a few miles to the eastward of the Hanyane river, when I espied an ostrich running parallel to our line of march at a distance of several hundred yards to our right. Thinking I might get a shot by cutting across the bird's course, I at once galloped in pursuit, leaving my friend with the Kafirs. After riding about a mile and a half at a stiff" gallop, I eventually did get a long shot, but missed. Shortly after firing I heard another shot, which I subsequently found had been fired by my friend at an eland. I now rode slowly back towards where I had left the Kafirs, and just as I sighted them also came in sight of a small herd of tsessebe antelopes that were feeding down an open valley. As it was now very late in the afternoon, and time to think about making a camp, I thought I had better shoot one of these XIII FAIRLY BEATEN 281 animals for dinner, as there were both wood and water near at hand. Riding up towards them, I proceeded to carry out my designs. With my first shot I struck one too far back, and thinking to lose him, I fired at another that was standing broad- side on about 250 yards off. This one I hit fair in the shoukier, and he fell dead after running but a short distance. The one I had first wounded was now standing with its head down and mouth open looking very sick, so I rode towards it, thinking I should be able to secure it as well. When 1 had approached to within 150 yards of it, however, it looked up, and then galloped away as if there was nothing the matter with it. Piqued at such conduct in a beast that I had thought completely in my power, I at once gave chase, but the harder I galloped the faster the wounded tsessebe ran, till at last, in mercy to my horse, that I felt was getting very tired, I pulled in, fairly beaten, and rode slowly back towards where I had left the Kafirs at least three miles away. As I was thus riding listlessly along through rather an open country, dotted all over with patches of forest and bush of a few acres in extent, I saw a lion suddenly emerge from a thicket to my left and canter across the open, about 150 yards in front of me, towards another patch of bush. One glance at his heavy form showed me that he was a very large animal, with a fine flowing black mane. To gather up the reins and, putting spurs to my tired nag, gallop as hard as 1 could to cut him off from the bush, was the work of a second. However, he reached the bush, which was not far distant, about sixty yards in front of me, but instead of entering it, faced round and stood looking at me. As I had undone the rimpy that I always have, running from 282 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. a ring on the bridle, to my belt, to check a horse in case he wishes to bolt when I dismount, I did not like to get ofF, not feeling sure that the horse would stand, but pulling him broadside, fired from the saddle. As the horse was still panting from the effect of the gallop after the tsessebe antelope, I could not get a steady aim, and missed. The lion did not budge, but still stood in the same place, eyeing me attentively. Hastily pushing in another cartridge, I then sprang to the ground, resolving to take my chance as to whether the horse would stand, and make as sure as possible of my shot at the lion ; just as I raised my little rifle the grim-looking beast turned his head and glanced over his shoulder, an action which is said by old Dutch hunters to be a certain preliminary to a charge. However, a second later I fired, bringing him on to his head with his tail in the air, roaring tremendously. I then reloaded and mounted my good horse, that had stood motion- less beside me all this time, unmoved either by the report of the rifle or the hoarse growling of the lion. His race was, however, run, for, after pushing him- self along the ground for about twenty yarcis by a series of kicks from his hind legs, he rolled over on his side, a sure sign with a lion that he is dead or dying. Riding alongside of him, I dismounted and admired at my leisure one of the noblest prizes that have as yet fallen to my rifle. In dying this lion made a most terrific noise. He kept filling his lungs with air, and then emitting roars which might have been heard (and which the Kafirs did hear) miles away. He was an enormous brute — the largest I have yet killed, and had a beautiful sleek coat and a lovely mane, long and flowing, black on the shoulders, and bright yellow on the cheeks. The measurements >_^<<^ i\ Reed buck . 19 Blue wildebeest . 23 548 Hartebeest . 3 2 K INDEX Acacia giraffa, 157 Accident with powder, i 3 Algoa Bay, i, 235 Amachankas (a Kafir tribe), 98 Andersson, Mr. C. J., 158 Baboons, 162 Bakalahari (a native tribe), 13 Bailie, Mrs. Alexander, 446 Baines, Mr., 137 Baldwin, Mr. W. C, i Bamangwato, 15; arrive at, 16; governed by Matchin, 16 ; Khama, present chief of, 16; leave, 175 range of hills of, 25 Banyai kraal, 320 Baobab tree, first sight of, ^2 Barber, Mr. Henry, 290 Barber, Mrs. Frederick, kindness of, 446 Batlapin village, 4 Batongas (a Kafir tribe), 301 Batongas and Shakimdas, conflict be- tween, 302 ; further disputes be- tween, 303-305 ; scanty clothing of, 305 ; unmusical instrument of, 305 5 raids on, by Portuguese sub- jects, 307 ; girls, daring escape of, 314; recapture of, 314; barbarous treatment of, 314 Beaconsfield Cataracts, 464, 469 Bechuana tribe, 33, 34 ; huts of, 36 Bechuanas, industry of, 7 ; karosses made by, 7 ; want of reciprocity of, 7 ; European dress of, 13 ; town at Pelatse, i8 Bell, Mr. C, 256, 262 Bembces river, 39, 44, 349 Biles, Mr. H., 65 " Biir' caught by crocodile, 62; sad end of, 389 Black vulture, 467 Blue wildebeest, 8, 198, 406 Boers, 40 j Boer hunters, etc., 42, 46, 60 j emigrant Boers, relics of, 398 Boomplaats, fight at, 37 Botletlie river, 399 "Bottle," pure cussedness of, 259; killed by lions, 260 Boy brought for sale, 328 "Boy," arrival of, with French's rifle, 436 ; story of, 436-438 Brown, Mr. Alexander, 257, 274 Buffaloes, 52, 69, 71, 74, 76, 96, 147- 150, i53> 157, 161, 169, 184, 193, 202, 218, 224-226 ; habits of, etc., 290, 297 J narrow escape from, 292- 294 ; encounters with, 295-297 ; size of horns of, 298 ; killed by lions, 271 ; immense herd of, 427 ; further account of, 424, 464-466J 472 Bug, venomous species of, 326 Bukwela, kraal of, 68 Burnt skin, remedy for, 14 Bushbnck, striped variety of, etc., 71, 298, 488 Bushmen, 28 j miserable huts of, 27 ; following spoor, 29 ; traits, habits of, etc., 1 3 1 J lair of, 6 ; language of, 6 ; appearance of, 6 ; town of, S ; families of, 17 ; starving, 403 ; foul feeding of, 484 Bush-pig, 71 Bustard (great crested), 401, 416 Calolo rivulet, 329 Cambari's town, 319 499 500 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS Camel-thorn trees, 157 Campbell's-florp, Griquas at, 4 Canyemba, the chief, 311, 312, 318, 319, 336; description of, 315 j re- sidence of, 316 ; unfriendly conduct of, 336 Cape Colony, 6 ; absence of trees in, 13 Caprimulgus mo-zambicus, 387 Cliaiza river, 302 Chobe bushbuck, the, 298 Chobe river, 18, 177, 178, 179 Chorumane's town, 322 Christmas Day, wonderful pudding on, 5 ; melancholy dinner on, 324 ; a miserable Christmas, 445 Chuma-Malisse, 122 Cigar, the Hottentot, 45, 48, 53, 54- 56, 58, 59 Clarkson, Mr. IMatthew, 347, 352, 353» 355> 360, 362, 371, 377, 3'8, 380, 381, 382, 383, 385, 386, 388, 420 ; struck by lightning, 421 Cobb & Co.'s coach, i Cobui Vardoni (Pookoo), 135 CoUison, Mr. H. C, 266, 276, 280, 286, 420, 421, 423, 424, 425, 441, 447 . Cosmetorn'n 'vexillarius, ^87 Crested bustard, 401, 416 Crocodiles, 62, 306, 405 ; superstitions concerning, 462 Cromwell, Mount, 345 Crook, Dr., 276, 277, 280, 447 Cross, Mr. Alfred, 347, 353, 359, 363, 369, 371, 377, 378, 380, 38^ 392 Da Costa, Joaquim, 319, 331 Daka, 224 Daka river, 125 Damara king, embassy to, 5 Daniel's Kuil, 1 1 Dawney, the Hon. Guy, 67 Dett, valley of, 97 Diamond Fields, 2, 10, I I, 63 Diego, Manoel, 313-315 Dog "Bill" seized by crocodile, 62; sad end of, 389 Dogs, native, 196 Donkeys killed by hyjenas, 317 Dorehill, Mr. G., 11, 13, 18, 37, 62, 63, 227, 228, 235, 238, 240, 241, 242, 255, 289 Dovecots introduced by Portuguese, 454 Drake, Mr., 291 Druten, Van, 9 Eagle, the white-headed fish, 136 Egyptian geese, 305, 485 Elands, 48, 52, 71, 217, 310, 322, 351, 359, 373, 375, 382, 388, 390, 397, 398 Elephants, signs of, 48 ; spoor of, 49 ; first sight of, 49 ; flesh of, 50 ; herd of, 50 ; mysterious disappearance of, 185, 1885 large herd of, 213; habits of, etc., 221 ; climbing powers of, 100 ; wonderful escape from, 365 ; immense strength of, 358 ; favourite food of, 383 ; curi- osity of, 435 ; encounters with, etc., 51,53,54,55,58,59,68,71,77,80- 85, 89-94, 99, 103-122, 126-128, 150-153, 161-164, 168-175, 185- 188, 203, 205-217, 220, 360-371, 373, 430, 443, 477-482 Elliott, Rev. W., Christmas with, 395 Enfield rifle, 10 Engelbreght, Cornelius, a Boer hunter, 377 Fairbairn, Mr. James, 123 Fever, all down with, 334 ; continued, 335; relapse of, 336, 338; sharp attack of, 419 ; further attacks of, 4:54, 436 ; repeated attacks of, 439 Finaughty, Mr. W., 65 Firmin, grave of, 33 Fish, spearing of, 197 French, Mr. R., 420, 421, 424, 425, 426, 429; absence of, 432, 433; death of, etc., 436-441 Funnell, Mr., 7 Game, herds of, coming to drink, 442 Game shot, list of, 231, 493-497 Garden, Mr. J. L., 124, 141, 149, 150, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168, 172, 177, 225 Garden, Captain, 124, 150, 163, 172, 177 I Gemsbuck, habits ot, encounters with, etc., 8, 23, 257-259, 401, 404 Giffard, Mr. J., 65 Giraffes, peculiar gait of, 19 j speed of, 19 ; first sight of, 19 ; good eating, 19 ; habits, distribution, chase of, INDEX 501 etc., 71, 217, 219, 236-237, 238- 243. 255. 40,5. 416, 418, 433 Gordon Cumming, i Gorge, picturesque, 16 Gouliien, Mr., 347 Grahamstown, 14, 51 Granily, Lieut., R.N., 237, 253-255, 289 Green pigeons, 458 Gregorio, extreme measures of, 312 Griffon vulture, 467 Griqua hunters, 41, 46, 60 Griqualand, 3 ; absence of trees in, i 3 Griquas, 45, 54 Griquatovvn, 9, 1 1 j deserted state of, 5 Grys steinbuck, 71, 353 Gubulawayo, 35, 38, 40, 46, 54, 6^, 67, 68 Guinea-fowls, 165 Gun, overloading of, 116 Gwai river, 67, 69, 71 Gwazan river, 350 Gwelo river, 40, 348 Gvvenia river, 37, 39, 40, 45, 54, 62, 348, 39^1 393 Hanyane river, 61, 352, 373, 374 Harnessed antelope, 299 Hartebeest antelope, 7, i6, 19 " Hartebeest," my Bushman, 175,206, 208, 221 Hartley, Mr., the veteran elephant- hunter, 64, 359 Helm, Rev. C. D., 346 Hepburn, the Rev. Mr., missionary at Baniangwato, 16 Hill of the Stump-tailed Bull, 358 ' Hippopotamus, 52, 125, 136, 165, 192, 305' 306, 311, 485 5 an ill-treated, 427 ; tracks of, 450 ; ancient track worn by, 471 j starving to death of, 471, 474-475 ; fearlessness of, 4735 herd of, 485 Holub, Dr., 125 Honey-bird, 87 Hope Fountain, 64 Horner, Mr. Lewis, 235, 254, 289 ' Horse killed by lion, 260 j horse killed by buffalo, 294 ; horse run down by elephant, 365 Horse lost, 25 ; price of horses, 3, 9 ; salted horses, 17 ; instinctive fear of carnivora, 416 Hottentots, 54 ; execution by Kafirs, 61 Hunting outfit, 46 Hyaenas, 52, 61, 130; howling of, 61, 130; troop of, 414-41 5 Impakwe river, 33 Impala antelope, 52, 71, 96, 157, 162, 189, _2i8,_ 345, 401, 477, 489 J tenacity of life of, 142 ; killed by wild dogs, I 5 Impewan seized by lioness, 278 Ingesi and Lunti rivers, junction of, 123 Inkwesi river, 33 " Intaba Insimbi," 350 "Intaba Izenduna," 38 " Inxwnla," grand dance of the, 65, 66 Inyati, the mission station of, 38, 40, 63, 65, 346 Inyoga, poverty of, 345 Jacob, the old Daniara, 413 Jacobs, Petrus, 42, 44, 291 ; bitten by lion, 43, 44 Jameson, Mr. J. S., 276, 286, 447, 458, 461, 462, 463, 464, 466, 471, 472, 473, 478, 489, 490 Jennings family, the, 65 Jomani river, 41, 45, 54, 60 Kafirs, habits, traits of, etc., 128, 131, 243 ; variability of, 108 ; songs and dances of, 85, 86, 457 ; execution of Hottentot by, 61 ; a fatal ac- cident, 106; houses of, 4; lying stories of, 30 5 general distrust of, 326 ; commercial talents of, 454 ; their love of flesh meat, 455 ; hanil- loom of, 455 ; music of, 457 j foul feeding of, 485 Kafukwe river, 317, 332 Kariba Gorge, 309 Kemba river, 329 Khama, the chief of Baniangwato, 396 Kieviet, Hendrick, a Kafir, 5 Kimberley, 9 Kingsley, Mr., 288 Kirk, Dr., 307 Kisch, Mr. D. M., 63 Klas Lucas's town, 6 Klip Drift, 9 Klipspringer, 2 502 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS Kobetsi's town reached, 7 ; country about, 7 Kok, Adam, the Griqua chief, 3 Konze antelope, the first shot, 321 ; description of, etc., 321, 322, 323, 324, 330 Koodoo antelope, 140, 141, 161, 218, 245' 349' 489 Kopong, arrive at, 15 Koranna chief, 6 Kuruman, 1 1 j view of downs of, 7 j change of country on leaving, 1 3 ; Kuruman and Secheli's, journey be- tween, 13 Laing, Mr. Arthur, 3, 9 Lake Ngami, 17, 18 Lange Berg Kafirs, 7 Lanyon, Sir Owen, 447 Leask, Mr. T., 65 Lechwe antelope, 166-168, 176, 181- 184, 192, 196, 200, 218, 333 Lee, Mr. John, 34, 68 Lemouni pan, 17 Leopard wounded, 354 Limpopo river, i8 Linquasi, valley of, 68, 71, 97, 122 Linyanti, site of, 425 Lions, encounters with, etc., 41-44, 52, 102, 190, 228 ; first sight of, 31 ; voices of, 95, 154; the first shot, 228, 248-251, 252-255, 259- 264, 280-286, 354, 393-394, 400, 414-418, 426, 489-490 ; horse killed by, 260 ; where met with, etc., 265 ; species, discussion on, 266 j differ- ences, etc., of, 267 ; size, habits, etc., of, 269-276 ; attack on camp by, 278-279 J flesh of, 286 j ten- acity of life, 287 ; best weapon for, 287 ; large troop of, 311 ; donkeys killed by, 348 j measurement of skins of, 419 ; man eaten by, 427 ; grand roaring of, 444 ; nightly visits of, 476 Livingstone, Charles, 307 Livingstone, Dr., 145, 307 ; statement by, 44 Lobengula, king of the Amandebele, 33' 34. 35. 45' 63, 67, 347, 354; appearance of, 35; battle between Lobengula and Kuruman, 39 ; tribute of tobacco to, 345 Lo Magondi, a Mashuna chief, 374, 454 ; visit to, 455 ; costume of, 457 J character of, 469 London Missionary Society, station of, 38, 40,63, 65, 346 Longwe river, 40 Lory, or plantain-eater, 458 Lukanga river, 333 Mababe Flat, the, 410 Machabel tree, 381 Mackenzie, the Rev. Mr., missionary at Bamangwato, 16 Macloutsi river, 32 Macuna tree, beauty of, 57 Mafungabuzi, neighbourhood of, 57 Mahalapsi river, 17 Mahobo-hobo tree, the, 360 Maiyune river, 322 Makalaka Kafirs, the, 71, 143; dress of, 34 ; kraals of, 289 Makobe's tribe, extermination of, 33 Makuba Kafirs, low state of, 428 Mamba (a large snake), 241 Mamele (a headman), 425 Manchuran, a Kafir chief, 4 Mandy, Mr. Frank, 14, 17, 18, 29, 31, 36, 46, 60, 62, 63 Mangwe river, 34, 68 Manica country, beauty of, 320 ; natives of, 329 ; small size of cattle of, 332 Marabout storks, 467 Marico, the district of, 38, 40 Martini-Henry carbine, 10 Masaras, 18, 24, 142 Mashuna country, 67 j Mashuna towns, 41, 44 5 character of Mashunas, 44 ; musical instrument of, 44 ; domestic animals, small size of, 45 ; their mode of killing elephants, 59 ; nets for game, 375 Matabele Kafirs, the, 69, 70, 98 ; fear inspired by, 94 ; grand dance of, 65, 66 ; raids of, 44 5 history of, 38 ; courage of, 2725 killed by lions, 2745 huts of, 36 ; girls, appearance of, 34 ; girls, dress of, 34 ; country of, 34, 38, 61 5 waggon road to, 17 Mendonga, Joaquim de, 31 1-3 19 ; 324, 335, 341 ; candour of, 316 Mendose, a Kafir, death of, 107 j burial of, 107 Metford Express rifle, excellence of, 461 INDEX 503 Metle river, 17 Michonya, stinginess of, 7 Miller, Mr. Edwin, 257, 260, 262, 288, 299' 396, 398, 400, 401, 405, 406, 407, 408, 410, 423, 425, 426, 427, 430. 43 1> 439. 441 Minyania, kraal of, 34 Monteiro, Lorenzo, 302 Montsua, the chief, 13 Moore, Mr., 67 Mosquitoes, 199, 212 J viciousness of, 158 ; numbers of, 333 Mvvemba's kraal, 301 Neros, the, a Griqua family, 351 New El Dorado, the, 2 Nightjar, standard-winged, 387 Ningengnee, sister of Lobengula, 67 Oates, Mr. Frank, 227 Orange river, the, 3, 5 ; desert country near, 8 Oribi antelope, 322, 323, 386, 482 Ostriches, 27, 280, 349, 406 Owen, Mr. L. M., 300, 301, 306, 316, 317, 326, 327, 334, 335, 339, 341, 344, 346 J severe illness of, 333 Oxen, price of, 9 ; powers of endur- ance of, 412 J deaths from thirst, 420 Palm wine, 195 Pelatse, walk to, 28 Phillips, Mr. G. A., 35, 39, 274 Pitfalls, dangers from, 138 Plantain-eater, 458 Pniel, ride over to, 3 Pookoo antelope, 135, 146, 150, 157, 179; description of, 180; localisa- tion of, 180 "Pookoo Flats," 158, 161, 172, 177 Port Elizabeth, i, 2 Portuguese, ill-treatment of natives by, 307. 313 Potgieter, Anthony, 6 Potgieter, Petrus, 291 ; the family, 68 Python, 201 Quabeet, dreadful death of, 355-358 Rain, heavy storm of, 338 Ramokwebani river, 33, 238, 240 Reed, enchanted, the, 355 Reedbuck, 52, 71 Rhebucks, grey and red, 2 Rhinoceros, notes concerning the black species, 68, 96, 98, 102, 103, 122, 161, 169, 176, 191, 198, 226, 345, 361, 379-380, 389, 450, 467, 483 ; notes concerning the white species, 53, 71, 74, 102, 226, 386, 388 ; rhinoceros wounded, 380 ; capture of young rhinoceros, 390-391 Rhinoceros biconiis, 103 Rhinoceros keitloa, 191 Roan antelope, 52, 71, 246-247, 251. 255. 321. 324, 351 Ruthven, death of, 279 ; burial of, 280 Sable antelope, 52, 72, 34S, 349, 351, 353. 379. 452-453; tirst sight of, 33 ; chase 337 Situngweesa, the Mashuna god, 354; powers of, 355 Situtunga antelope, 193, 196 ; found dead, 424 504 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS Skerm, ik-scription of, 73 Skinner, Mr. Peter, 17 Smaller antelopes, dry flesh of, 19 Smallpox, ravages of, 316 Smith, Sir Harry, 37 Snider rifle, lo South Africa, night temperature, 21-22 S Hithern Cross, 23 Springbuck, 2, 5, 406 Spur-winged goose, 305, 477, 485 Standard-winged nightjar, 387 Steinbuck, 5, 52, 397 Sunta river, 423 Susan, the pet baboon, 277 Swart, Martinus, death of, 410 Sykes, Rev. W., 38, 39, 346 Tartar emetic, effects of, on hyaenas, 318 Tati river, 33, 123, 124, 125, 235, 244 ; old Mashuna diggings near, 32 Tauwani river, 17 Tofts, Mr., 125, 163, 177 Trading, first attempt at, 3 Tragelaphus scriptus (harnessed ante- lope), 299 Tragelaphus Spcki'i (situtunga), 193, 333 Tragelaphus syluatkus (bushbuck), 299 Transvaal, open plains of, 20 Tsessebe antelope, 52, ig8, 218, 245, 280, 348, 429 ; flesh of, 220 Tsetse fly, the, 38, 41, 189, 376; numbers of, 158 ; bite of, 158-160 ; effect of bite on horses, 160 Umbila river, the, 360 Umfule river, 473 Umgesi river, the, 350 Umgooloo, Mount, 222 Umniati river, the, 42, 52, 57, 350 ; junction with the Umfule, 473 Umparira, 144, 145 Umsengaisi river, 376 Umziligazi, king of the Amandebele, 38, 71, 354; army of, 33 Umzobo seized by lioness, 278 Vaal river, 3,4, 11 Vaughan, inferior rifle by, 3 Veldt, lost in the, 20-28 Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, 68, 70, 72, 136, 137, 140; description of, 130, 132, 134 Viljoen, Hendrick, 272 Viljoen, Mynheer Jan, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 54, 348, 393 Viljoen, Mrs., 348, 393, 394 Vleys, Shakani, 27 Vungo river, 40, 348 Waggon, price of, etc., 3, 9 ; travelling by, 124; capsizing of, 350 Wall, Henry, 177 Wankie's Town, situation of, 226 Warburg's fever tincture, 334; ex- cellent properties of, 335 Wart hog, 71, 192, 471 Water, want of, 409-410 ; joy at sight of, 412 Waterbuck, 52, 132, 306, 350, 451, 453, 471, 485, 489 j meat of, 181 Water-hole, 31 Water-lilies, beautiful blue, 477 Water-vleys, Shakani, 27 Weather, heat of, 5, 301 Weyand, Karl, a Boer hunter, 377 White-headed fish-eagle, 485 Wild boars, 71 t Wild dogs, 15, 384-385 /. Wildebeests, 218, 220 Wild pigs, 96, 218, 320, 343, 359, 389, 489 Williams, Mr. William, 12 Witte SantI, remarkable appearance of, 8 Wood, Mr. George, <)j et scq., 164, 177, 226, 347, 352, 353, 355, 358, 361, 362, 371, 372, 378, 380, 390, 392 Wood, Mr. Swithin, 399 Zambesi river, 38, 70, 125, 130, 136, 315, 317 ; falls of, 68, 70, 72, 136, 137, 140 ; heat of valley of, 301 Zebras, 52, 71, 75, 76, 96, 123, 162, 225, 322, 330, 341, 348, 390, 406, 429, 434, 477, 482 Zulus, 70 ; huts of, 36 Zwang Indaba, deserted town of, 39 Zweswe river, 351, 378 Printed by R, & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh. CO o 0)> <2 CO O o l-» CD o CV->r4 c ^slJj M ^sSin w '■ ^ ^^ 1^ •